White Flag
by msjgatsby
Summary: With Mike gone and Sid out for revenge, Graceland could be burned, and every agent is caught in it's disastrous aftermath.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: Everything's in Canon, this is going to be one of my longer stories, and basically is going to be my humble suggestion for how Season 3 should go. Overall, I was not a fan of Season 2. Too many outside characters, not enough roommate interaction, character development or cohesive plot (though it did have some amazing moments that showed potential.)

I'm hoping to have it finished by the time Season 3 airs (If it airs), I already have the whole thing story boarded out.

I'm always happy to discuss the show or my unending PIKE loyalty (The title white flag is partially because of the Dido song that says I will go down with this ship). I appreciate reviews and theories!

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><p>The sky is grey and the ocean is crashing angrily outside the walls of Graceland. A storm is brewing. Yet the foreboding weather outside cannot match the melancholia that pervades the atmosphere inside the house itself.<p>

"Dude, you're still not dressed? Hurry it up Jakes. We're going to be late." Johnny asks, as he sees Jakes fumbling through open drawers in his room.

"I can't find my tie. Charlie have you seen my tie?" Jakes yells out through the hallway.

"Which one?" Charlie pops her head out of the door to her bedroom.

"The only one I own!" Jakes replies back grumpily, throwing clothes all over the room in frustration.

"Check your sock drawer!" Charlie calls back in a suggestion.

"I already did!"

"Check it again!"

"Dude just go without the tie! What's the big deal?" Johnny asks.

"The big deal is, this is not some hippie kumbaya bonfire on the beach. Show some respect." Jakes explains in a frustrated tone. "Charlie! It's not here!"

"Fine, wear this." Charlie walks into the room and throws a tie around Jakes shoulders.

"Whose tie is this? Is it Briggs'? It seems a little preppy. It's not…" Jakes examined the critically, and let his voice trail off at the end.

"I got it from the costume closet." Charlie answers simply. Jakes accepts this answer and begins to tie and Charlie turns to Johnny, "You, help me zip this."

"Aww Charlie, you're really wearing that?" Johnny whines in displeasure at the modest black dress Charlie is wearing.

"I'm pregnant Johnny. The jig is up." Charlie scolds as she attempts to zip the dress herself. Her bump is barely noticeable, but it's enough that the form fitting dress is a little snug. "Besides, my pants are starting to feel a little tight. Unless I'm in sweats."

"Catherine Demarco you are not wearing sweatpants today." Charlie looks up to see Briggs leaning in the doorframe in a simple black tailored suit. His eyes rake up and down her and he says sadly,"You look beautiful."

"You're not so bad yourself." She walks over to him and leans in to give him a flirtatious kiss.

"Ahem." Jakes coughs to let them know Johnny and Jakes are both still present. "We should get going. The service is going to start soon."

"Yo, P really isn't coming?" Johnny asks, looking around sadly. "Where is she?"

"Same place she's been all week. Out at her rock." Jakes grumbles. For weeks, Paige has been sitting on a stone out on the beach staring out at the ocean.

"We'll do this without her." Briggs says gruffly. "Let's go."

Two members short, the Graceland team leaves the house together.

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><p>"And now by the power vested in me by the state of California, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." The officiant announces.<p>

Charlie and Briggs lean in and kiss each other passionately, but a distinct feeling of sadness fills the air. This is not right. It's not the joyous event that a wedding should be. There is no cake. No white dress. No big reception to attend. Still there is something distinctly touching, yet depressing, as the two agents embrace.

"I can't believe Mike and Paige missed this." Johnny mutters to himself.

"It does feel like something's missing." Jakes agreed, "Ah, nevermind. Looks like the final guest finally decided to make an appearance."

"I'm surprised it took him so long." Briggs mutters bitterly as he watches the car pull up to the steps of city hall. All four agents watch as a familiar, crisply dressed officer with perfectly gelled gets out of the car and approaches them. Charlie starts to cry into Briggs shoulder as he approaches and he holds her protectively against his side.

"Good afternoon, Jeff. Glad you could make it." Briggs says.

"Paul Briggs you're under arrest for the murders of Juan Badillo and Michael Warren." Jeff says as he approaches Briggs cautiously holding handcuffs. Jakes and Johnny's hands twitch near their guns as they realize they are surrounded.

"Really Jeff? Did you bring the whole department to see me off?" Briggs asks.

"We had a lot of volunteers. Don't make this more difficult than it needs to be Paul." Jeff says as he motions for Briggs to turn around and put his arms together. "I appreciate your cooperation."

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not really." Jeff tips his hat to Charlie as he begins to lead Briggs away, "Good day Agent Demarco, or should I say "Mrs. Briggs"."

"You could say that, but she might shoot you for it." Briggs shrugs.

"How convenient that the second your arrest warrant was signed, the first place you rushed was to the alter." Jeff says sarcastically.

"Well, I didn't want my kid to be a bastard." Briggs states confidently, as the FBI officer begins to drag him away in cuffs.

"And the spousal immunity doesn't hurt does it?" Jeff sneers.

"A legal technicality. Speaking of which, shouldn't you be reading me my Miranda Rights about now?" Briggs says calmly.

"You know them better than I do." Jeff says, feeling disgust for the agent he and so many others once looked up to.

"Doesn't mean I don't love to hear you say them, Jeff." Briggs answers glibly as he's put in the back of the police car.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney…." Jeff mirandizes Briggs as he locks him in the back of the car and gets in the drivers seat.

As the police car drives away with Briggs, the remaining three can do nothing but stand helplessly on the steps of city hall and watch. For a moment the only sounds are Charlie's soft sobs in Johnny's arms as he tries to comfort her but doesn't know how. Jakes just stands with his hands in his pockets stoically. A light trickle of rain begins, as if nature itself is feeling the gloom of the three agents.

It's Jakes who finally speaks first, clearing his throat and wiping a tear before saying gruffly, "Well now that we've got that depressing ordeal out of the way, who's ready for Mike's funeral?"


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Thanks for the feedback. I love the reviews and seeing the questions you want answered. I'm trying to get these Chapters out as quickly as possible.

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><p>The air conditioning of the cool club does it's best to counter the heat of the sweaty bodies gyrating on the floor. Paige is right in the middle of the fray, her body swaying to the beat, trying to lose herself in the music. The crowd pulses around her. She's an anonymous being in a room full of strangers and she relishes the fact that for a moment she's free from the once comforting walls of Graceland.<p>

A few minutes ago she'd been in the lap of Pedro Perez, who wasn't particularly important, other than he was currently talking to Sanchez Reyes, the right hand man of Mateo Jimenz, a high ranking drug supplier Paige desperately wanted to get behind bars.

Unfortunately as soon as the crooks started to talk business, Paige was told to go dance and enjoy herself out of earshot. She knew how these things worked though. She knew how men worked and she had a plan. She would go out onto the floor and dance just enough to attract attention, not just from Pedro, but from every other man in this club until one came to dance with her. Then Pedro would let his jealous nature overcome his business ethics and insist she not leave his side all night. Easy.

This new case was perfect for Paige. It was what she knew. Bad men, selling drugs, a simple exchange of cash for coke. The men operated mostly out of high end clubs, which allowed the leggy blonde in with no questions asked. She would get this guy behind bars and she would use the case as a distraction to forget about Mike, about Briggs, about sex trafficking, and about Graceland.

Paige closed her eyes and swayed her hips to the music. Even with her eyes closed, she could feel the weight of the stares upon her from the men in the crowd. Shouldn't take too long for one of them to get the courage to approach her.

She was in her element. She let her guard down, her thoughts slip from her mind as she turned on the autopilot. Paige brought the cold glass of vodka on ice to her lips and savored the bitter freezing taste on her tongue as she swayed. She didn't expect any trouble this early on into making contacts so she allowed herself to imbibe. She danced in the middle of the floor, allowing the chilled glass to press against the hot skin of her neck as she swayed.

A gangly bespeckled guy tried to approach her, but he was awkward, and Paige knew he would not be perceived as enough of a threat to flame Pedro's jealousy. She needs an alpha man. So she dismisses him from her side quickly and firmly, but tries to be kind. She continues to dance, her eyes scanning the room for a potential aid in her quest.

She spots him across the floor, confident and tall, dark hair and skin. He's perfect. Muscular and beautiful and just the right air of cockiness to suit her purposes. He's so perfect, Paige worries he might be gay. With his tight shirt and impeccable grooming he may be, but he could just be metrosexual. From this far away she has trouble telling. No way to find out but to catch his attention.

She allows herself to make eye contact with him long enough to be suggestive and then looks away coyly. He smiles at her and lifts his glass, and she silently toasts him back before starting to vamp up her dancing. Perfect. All she has to do now is wait. She closes her eyes as her hips sway to the music letting her hands suggestively run down the curves of her sides.

She feels fingertips digging into her hip, and a hard body press against her back. Paige's lips curl into a self satisfied smirk as she feels a hand wrap around hers, taking the glass in her hand confidently and setting it aside. She grins to herself. He is a cocky bastard. Men are so predictable. She presses back against the stranger behind her, grinding back into him to the beat of the music slowly and sensually.

He presses against her from behind, both hands digging into her hips, holding her firm, setting the pace and directing the rhythm of her hips to match his. She can feel him hard against her back, all lean and muscular. The unmistakable bulge pressed against her ass lets her know that he's definitely not gay. She can feel the heat from his body against her back, and she rolls languidly against him.

Even as her body moves in a soft sensual motion, her mind is somewhere else, analyzing her next move. Pedro probably won't notice in the first song, probably closer to the end of the second. She'll need to dance at least four more songs with Mr. Cocky before he interrupts. She'll have to pace herself. She needs to make sure her dancing is hot enough to keep his attention and attract Pedro's jealousy, but not so hot that Mr. Cocky tries to drag her off to a bathroom somewhere. It's a delicate balance.

Her eyes closed, she allows herself to get lost in the beat of the music rocking back against him. Beat and pulse, sway and grind. She finds her mind emptying as she moves against the stranger, letting him take control of the dance. Letting him take control of her. His body hard behind hers, his hands on her hips, her thighs. How long has it been since she's let someone touch her? Hold her? Not for a while. Not since before Sulla's. She hadn't let someone touch her since… Mike.

It hurts to even think of his name and she pushes it willfully from her mind, forcing herself into the moment, the music, the heat of a stranger. The heat of this moment. She tries to take a moment just to appreciate this for what it is. Human connection. The thrill of losing her sense of self and her overtaxed mind to the primal instinct of hips on hips. The heavy breath on her neck. Skin on skin. His touch. His heat. His scent.

His scent.

She recognizes that scent.

Instantly, Paige is yanked out of her peaceful hypnotic trance and into a haze of painful memories. Her eyes fly open and she looks across the bar to where the tall dark skin man who toasted her is leaning in close to kiss the lips of another man. She looks down to the pale arm wrapped possessively around her waist. The fingertips that are hidden under the hem of her shirt, pressed against her flat stomach. The hands on her seem to tighten slightly as he feels her body tense.

For a moment, time stops as they both freeze on the dance floor. He waits for her reaction, not daring to move until she does. Paige takes a deep breath, nearly drowning in the smell of the pheromones and sweat emanating from the body behind her. She tries to relax her body and slow her pulse and tentatively begins to move her hips again. He follows her lead, and they resume dancing silently. His fingers holding her hips like a vice, afraid she might run.

The music beats faster and she presses harshly back into his body, he meets her thrusts with his own, and their dancing begins to become wilder. His hands begin to roam her body, squeezing and groping her everywhere he can touch. Like she's clay and he's shaping her into his own creation. Unwilling to be a passive participant in the dance, her own hands reach behind her to grasp his legs, touching him however she can without turning around. She can't turn around for fear she'll break the spell. That he'll disappear and she'll find this isn't real. This can't be real.

"Kaylie."

His own hands pull her closer. She arches against him and can feel his mouth on her neck. Her hand comes up to grip the back of his neck holding his mouth to her and he devours her. His lips glide over her collar bone and shoulder. He suckles the delicate flesh, marking her as his. Paige closes her eyes and drowns in the sensation, becoming limp and pliable in his arms even as she writhes against him.

"Kaylie!"

People are staring, and she doesn't care, because he's here. The entire room has faded completely away. She wonders if maybe she's died in the middle of the dance floor to be reunited like this, but he feels so alive behind her. So hot and possessive and familiar. This can't be her imagination. This has to be him.

"Kaylie!"

The name finally permeates the thick fog she's found herself lost in, and she looks up to realize that Pedro is calling for her from the edge of the dance floor. Calling for Kaylie. Which tonight is Paige.

Paige doesn't know why she didn't give him her real name. Usually she didn't use a fake name, but tonight she just wanted to be someone other than her. She hesitates and looks over to his harsh stare. He's gesturing for her to stop dancing and come join him.

She's suddenly feeling flush. She's not sure how long he's been watching. She feels like she's being jerked out of a dream. She feels all the blood rushing back to her brain as she realizes this was the goal. To get herself back into Pedro's lap. The coke. The cash. The bad guys. Nothing seems to matter anymore, everything seems eclipsed in comparison to the earthquake her soul just felt.

She feels the hand on her hip loosen and let her go. She turns to look at him, but she barely catches a glimpse of the man walking away through the thick crowd. She squints her eyes, and starts to follow. She needs to see his face. Needs to know who this stranger is… A hand catches her wrist and she turns back to find Pedro glaring at her. Stunned and disoriented, Paige allows herself to be led back off the dance floor.

She takes one last look through the club, but it's filled with nameless faces. Her eyes finally settle upon a tall pale man who winks at her and waves. He has a similar build, but it's definitely not Mike. Of course it's not. It couldn't have been him.

Mike's dead.

People just believe what they want to believe.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Thank you all so much for the reviews. I greatly enjoy them. It's so nice having feedback. It really forces me to put the words in my head on the page. This chapter is a little hurried, and I admit I'm not as experienced writing Jakes and Johnny so their voices aren't as clear to me. I am hoping to have life back in control soon, to have some more free time to write.

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><p><em>Next shipment comes in next Tuesday. Make sure the feds have somewhere else to be. My sister says hello.<em>

Johnny sits on his bed staring down at the text on his screen. He looks up and the ceiling in frustration and then back down at his phone. He feels like he's drowning, because he knows Carlito has him in an impossible situation. Not impossible. Just impossible for him. Briggs would know what to do, but Briggs is in jail. Mike's dead, Paige is off in her own world these days, and he can't burden Charlie with this shit in her state. No he has to deal with this on his own. What is he going to do?

"So what's your plan?"

"My plan? Plan for… plan for what?" Johnny's head jerks up guiltily, to see Jakes leaning in his doorframe. _How the hell does he do that? What does he know?_

"For once they close down this sorry ass house, and we all gotta move on. What's your plan?" Jakes grumbles, swaying slightly against the frame.

Johnny breaths a sigh of relief that Jakes can't secretly read minds, but he's a little embarrassed that was the first place his mind went. Stupid thoughts like that are why he's never going to be as good an agent as Briggs. Hell, Mike probably accomplished more in his two short years as an agent than Johnny will be able to accomplish in a lifetime. Which given his current situation with Carlito, Johnny's lifetime may not be much longer than Mike's.

"Yo, Johnny. What's your plan?" Jakes repeats to the distracted agent.

"I don't see nobody boarding up the doors." Johnny insists. "Until they physically lock me out, I'm gonna proceed like it's business as usual."

"Come on, you know that it's coming." Jakes laughs cynically, taking another swig from his bottle. "Charlie's pregnant. Briggs is in jail. Mike's in the ground. You, me and Paige can't keep this place going by ourselves."

"They could bring in new agents." Johnny says stubbornly.

"Oh yeah? Who would want to live in this madhouse?" Jakes challenges.

"Alright, don't go acting like Graceland doesn't matter. I ain't buying that shit no more from you. Because for all your talk, when you were down and out this is the place you wanted to be. Hell we lost Zelanski because you couldn't live without us." Johnny doesn't bring up Jakes drinking again. For a while the older customs agent had been sober, but with all the recent despair, it seemed like he was turning back to old coping mechanisms.

"Yeah, well that was before the agents inside all started killing everybody." Jake finally walks into the room and stands in the middle, looking around like he's never been there before.

"Yo man, you don't really think that Briggs killed Mikey do you?" Johnny asks in a serious voice.

"I don't know, Johnny." Jakes took another frustrated swallow of his drink, "I don't know Mike didn't deserved it either."

"Alright man, I know you're drunk, so I'm gonna pretend you didn't just say that." Johnny says to Jakes. Sure Mike could have a stick up his ass, but how could Jakes say that about the friend they used to live with?

"Everybody's got skeletons Johnny." Jakes says, "There was a lot of rumors flying around before he went."

"You think Mike Warren actually went crazy and gunned down an entire household of cops at Solano's? You think he burned an innocent girl's body?" Johnny challenges. When did everyone in this house turn against each other? This was Mike Warren they were talking about.

"Paige thinks he does." Jakes says dryly.

"Yeah, I'm not talking about what Paige thinks, you Jakes. Do you you actually believe Mike and Briggs could have done all those things?" Johnny stands up in a huff from the bed, ready to drag Jakes out of his room if need be.

"Here's what I know. I know Mike was obsessed with Sid, with the buses and this case. You saw him. He set up a bank robbery. He did something that sent Paige off the deep end-"

"Paige was locked up in a warehouse as a sex slave with a mad man. That's enough to make anyone go a little crazy. We don't know that Mike was the one-"

"We know he kept it open. What we don't even know is how he went from knowing nothing about the sex trade to suddenly showed up with a meet already setup to buy Paige-"

"Ok, you are not holding that against him. That information saved Paige's life-"

"Don't you wonder how he got it though Johnny? Where'd he get the money to buy her-" Jakes yells back.

"Ok, THAT I know. I went to the bank with him and he pulled it from his own retirement account. Cashed in everything he had to go get her. That is the guy whose memory you are tarnishing right now." Johnny says angrily. He hopes Jakes feels like shit for disrespecting the dead, especially after learning the sacrifices Mike had made, but Jakes just keeps on talking.

"Fine. But admit it. The boy is obsessive. About Paige. About the buses. About Markham. We know he went down to Solano's after the op was called off-"

"He may be obsessive but you got to admit the dude's almost always right!" Johnny asserts, then corrects himself, "With the exception of thinking Briggs killed that guy and was Odin..."

"Yeah, I'm not so sure Mike was wrong about that one…" Jakes says darkly.

"Dude, you're drunk and talking crazy." Johnny insists, beginning to backpedal, "This is Mike and Briggs! Those two are like the Batman and Robin of the FBI world."

"It wouldn't be the first time Batman thought about killing off Robin." Jakes says to himself before he can think about what he's saying.

"WHAT?" Johnny is dumbfounded by this news. Jakes can't be saying what Johnny thinks he's saying.

"Nothing. I'm drunk. Pretend you didn't hear that." Jakes realizes his mistake and curses himself.

"No, I did hear that! What are you talking about Jakes?" Johnny yells. He is so sick of everyone leaving him in the dark. He is always the last to know anything! Why don't people come to him with information. "Tell me what you know!"

"No, I'm not going to tell you because then that's one more person who may have to perjure himself at Brigg's trial." Jakes says practically, even through his drunken haze.

"Briggs actually killed a federal agent?" Johnny's voice is a mere whisper as he sits back down, dumbstruck, on his bed. It's the practicalness of Jakes not telling him, that makes Johnny believe whatever it is Jakes knows, it's not good.

"Possibly two." Jakes mutters sitting down defeated on the bed next to Johnny.

"You think Briggs killed Mike?" Johnny's voice still has disbelief in it's tone, but it's not directed at Jakes anymore. More at the situation as a whole.

"I don't know what to believe anymore, man. Everything's so fucked up." Jakes admits quietly.

The two sit in hushed silence on the bed next to each other, both lost in their own thoughts of despair, trying to figure out where everything went so wrong. It's Jakes who breaks the silence first with an awkward clearing of his throat.

"You know, the place I rented when I thought Cassandra and I were going to…" Jakes trails off awkwardly, and then attempt to rephrase. "Daniel's not going to use it anytime soon If you need a place to stay." Jakes clumsily admits.

Despite everything, Johnny has to laugh to himself that Jakes is drunk enough to actually offer to have Johnny as a roommate willingly after Graceland closes down. He knew somewhere deep down that crotchety bastard loved him. As tempted as Johnny is to agree to it, and watch Jakes freak out once he's sober and realizes what he's done, he decides to simply be touched by the gesture.

He shakes his head, his voice taking on a reassuring tone, "Nah man, you gotta keep the room open for when you get your kid back. Thanks though."

"See that's the Johnny I know. You never give up hoping." Jakes toasts Johnny with his empty beer bottle as he stumbles out of the room in search of another.

"It's all I've got left." Johnny says to the empty room after Jakes leaves.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: I apologize for the wait. Normally I like to update at least once a week. However, this week was very social for me which is good for me, but bad for writing. Plus every time I sat down to write, I ended up working on a different chapter (or a different story). I'm still not 100% pleased with this chapter, but I do want to post something on this story.

Fair warning, this chapter has some adult language in it and some violence.

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><p>Paige swirls the glass in her hand distractedly, shaking the loan ice cubes that remain. She can hear them rattling in the empty glass, which is surprising because the music is still blasting and Pedro is talking to her, yelling is more like it, but even with his increased volume, Paige barely hears a word. She holds the glass up to the bartender as a sign he should bring her a refill and for the hundredth time scans the crowd behind Pedro, searching for a sign of Mike.<p>

She's usually more covert than this. A better listener. But another empty glass and the scent of Mike lingering in her lungs has made it impossible to concentrate on something as insignificant as Pedro. Instead she replays in her mind the entire night, every possible detail she might have missed. She keeps coming back to, it must be impossible, because even if by some miracle Mike hadn't died in that hospital, he wouldn't have waited two months to contact her. Unless...

_No. _

_No "unless"._

Mike was dead.

There was no miracle. There had been a funeral, granted one she didn't attend, and his ashes had been sent back to his family on the east coast. No. There was no way Mike Warren could be at this club.

Paige's eyes scan the crowd again.

The bartender sets a new drink down, and Paige reaches for it, but Pedro grabs it from her first. As far as he's concerned, she will not drink, eat or breath until he tells her to. Paige's eyes narrow in annoyance but at least now he has her attention.

"Are you even listening to me?" Pedro demands.

_No._ Paige thinks, but instead plasters on a sweet smile and answers, "Of course."

"Then answer me!" He barks.

Paige thinks back, but has no idea what the question is. It feels like Pedro's been ranting for an hour. Her eyes begin to drift beyond his shoulder to the crowd, but she knows she needs to focus, so she forces them back to Pedro and tries to look apologetic.

"Sorry the music is loud. What did you say?" She asks.

"Who was that pretty boy you were creaming yourself for? Who? Your exboyfriend?" Pedro leans in even closer, aggressively, her drink held in his vice like grip.

What makes Paige flinch is not so much his menacing tone, but his term "exboyfriend." Was that what Mike was? The term somehow seemed too official and at the same time completely inadequate to describe their relationship. Mike had never officially been her "boyfriend" so how could he now be her ex? Yet, at the same time he had been for better or worse one of the most significant relationships she'd ever had. Not that it mattered, because the man she was dancing with _was not Mike_.

"I told you, I don't know. I was just dancing, baby." Paige can barely conceal the annoyance in her voice. She can't work like this. She's a little drunk and she's very shaken up. She needs to go home. Recollect herself. She shouldn't be working tonight. And damn that Mike Warren for screwing up her cases and messing with her heart even from beyond the grave.

"You didn't even know who it was fucking you from behind? Are you that big of a whore that any man who wants you can have a taste?" Pedro chastises her.

_Well I just met you two nights ago and now __you_ _think __you_ _own me, asshole. What did you expect?_ Paige thinks silently to herself, but is wise enough to keep her mouth shut.

"And how do you think that makes me look to my men, huh? To have to sit and watch while some other man takes what's mine? To watch you panting like a bitch in heat? Are you trying to make me look like a fool?"

Paige grinds her teeth. She hates misogynistic assholes. She hates being treated like nothing more than the property of men. She's felt it every day of her life. The systematic misogyny so deeply ingrained in American culture that it was like the societal constructs had turned into an invisible cage. She felt it when she was sent home from school for wearing a tank top. When a boy she turned down for prom didn't relent in asking until she lied and told him she had a boyfriend. When she first worked at the DEA and was consistently assigned to be undercover as a stripper while the men she'd outranked got to go after big cartels. The stares. The catcalls. The gropes.

Usually she dealt with it by trying to use it to her advantage against the men who didn't see her coming. She'd allow them to think they owned her, right up until the moment she threw their asses in jail. Something had changed since Sulla's though. Something about the blatant notorious presumption that she was nothing more than her body and her body was the property of men to be sold and traded had made it harder to ignore the invisible bars she used to manipulate so well.

"If you would have danced with me, it wouldn't have happened, but you were too busy talking to your friends. I was bored. I was just dancing baby. It was innocent." Paige bats her eyelashes and tries to soothe Pedro's bruised ego.

"Don't give me that bullshit. I saw the two of you. There was nothing innocent about it." Pedro yells back. He's standing so close she can feel his spit speckle her cheek. She takes a step backwards and curses herself for it. She needs to stand her ground. Show no weakness.

Paige blushes despite herself at the memory of the heat of the strong hands on her waist. The wet satin of his lips on her neck. The pure lust he pumped into her veins with every thrust of his unmistakable desire rubbing against her ass. Once again her eyes scan the crowd… _No, Paige. Focus._

"I didn't think you'd be the type of man to get jealous of some little boy. I'm obviously yours baby. Let's just forget it and go back to the table have a drink and calm down." Paige says, which is a lie, because she knew he was the jealous type.

"Oh no. Those men are far too important to associate with the likes of you. I need them to respect me! If they think I'm going to stand for letting you humiliate me like that in front of everyone then they'll never do business with me. Not with a man who can't even control his own woman."

"Look baby, you're drunk and angry and making a big deal about nothing. I'm yours, and your men clearly see that. Why don't we just go sit back down at the table. I'll stay by your side the whole night. By the end of the night no one will remember one little dance." She is rapidly losing control of this situation and about to punch Pedro in the face. If she can just calm down, she can rally. She can handle this. She just needs to focus, and bring it back to a manageable level.

"If you're going to be my girl let's get one thing straight. I do not share my toys." Pedro grabs Paige roughly by the arm and growls at her. Paige looks down at the hand on her arm with murder in her eyes. She needs to calm down. She needs to get out of here. "So if you want to make it up to me, you're going to prove it right now."

He begins to drag her away from the bar, and Paige is suddenly filled with apprehension. She is not sure what this wild man is going to do. She's already half way across the floor when she realizes her purse is still at the bar. That could be her excuse, she could go back to get it and then run like hell. "Wait my purse! I'll be right back in a second..."

Pedro pays no attention to her plea though and continues dragging her along. She suddenly realizes he is not dragging her towards the table of men, but towards a side door exit. She tries to pull away and once again looks desperately back towards her purse. Her phone and her wallet are in there. More importantly, so is her gun.

Paige struggles, and cries out for help from anyone who might be around, but Pedro shoves her out the door and the few men within earshot pretend not to hear her cries. No one wants to intervene.

Paige stumbles out into the alleyway. She tries to catch her balance, but the heel of her shoe breaks off from the awkward angle and her ankle twists. Pain shoots up her leg, but it's eclipsed by the terror of knowledge that comes with it. The injury, while not permanent, will cancel out the option of running. And every instinct deep in her gut tells her that running is exactly what she should be doing.

"You're hurting me. Let me go." Paige, finally manages to throw him off of her, limping away and trying to hide the fact her ankle is twisted. She does not want to show him any weakness. Every nerve in her body is on alert, and she knows she's in trouble. He's standing between her and the door, a terrifying grin on his face. He knows he has her cornered.

"Did I hurt you? Come over here Kaylie I'll kiss it and make it better."

"It's not funny. I want to go home." Paige says, trying to keep her voice from showing the fear she feels. She knows he has no intention of letting her go now. Regardless, she tries to walk around him to the door back to the club, but he steps in front of it aggressively, no longer keeping up any pretenses that he's a gentleman. That he's human.

"No where to run Kaylie." He taunts and Paige feels an odd satisfaction that this man still doesn't know her real name. It's a small victory considering he may kill her.

She pauses and looks towards the long alleyway. She wonders if her ankle will support her enough to at least get out into the street. She decides she has to try for it, because Pedro outweighs her by at least a hundred and forty pounds, and she does not want to attempt hand to hand combat. She kicks off her other shoe and begins to run, but barely makes it two steps before he grabs her forcefull shoving her back up against the brick wall. His body presses against hers threateningly as she struggles to get away.

"Let go of me!" She screams, struggling to unpin her arms.

"Come on, I saw you dancing like a wanton whore on the floor. Grinding back on that pretty boy. And now you want to play shy? What? I'm not pretty enough for you?" Pedro taunts her.

"Get off me! I said no!" Paige shoves him back just far enough that she can bring her free arm up and punch him in the face. The force knocks him back and Paige immediately tries to run inside, but he still has a tight grip on her arm and he uses his leg to kick her feet out from under her.

"You don't get to say no anymore. I saw you on that dance floor. Saw you shaking your ass for everyone to see. Saw you begging that pretty boy to fuck you. You want to be a worthless slut? I'll treat you like one." He snarls at her, blood seeping from his busted lip where Paige's fist had made contact. He grabs her by the throat and pushes her up the brick wall so her toes are dangling helplessly trying to touch the floor. He grinds his huge body into hers, and she struggles to breath. Struggles to get away.

He pulls Paige so close to his face she can taste his sour breath. He has he has her arm twisted and pinned uncomfortably around her back, her other hand clawing desperately at the hand that is choking her by the throat. With as much strength as she can manage, Paige pulls back her head and slams her forehead into her attacker's nose.

Pedro bellows out in pain and for a moment drops her. Paige scrambles to get away, but he grabs her by her hair, dragging her backwards. The skin on her knees tears as she's drug along the harsh gravel of the cement, struggling to find her balance and get back on her feet. She starts to scream, and his hand is shoved roughly into her mouth to stop her. She gags as the fingers invade her throat and then bites down as hard as she can. Now it is Pedro who screams for her.

"You stupid bitch!" Pedro's hand is bleeding even as he slaps her across the face. Before she can recover he uses his other hand to yank Paige's hair back roughly, using the force to drive her head forward into the corner of the building. She feels the blinding pain as her forehead splits open on the jagged brick and she crumples onto the pavement.

Everything seems to go silent except for the ringing in her ears and Pedro's muffled swearing somewhere above her.

She knows she needs to get up.

Needs to fight.

She tries to focus her blurry vision, but she can see the lights dimming as the world starts to fade to black. The last thing Paige sees is the blood trickling down into her eye and her attacker towering above her. The last thing she hears is a shot ring out. The last thing she feels is darkness wrapping around her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** So I'm having an awesome day. This chapter is getting posted, almost done with the next one (amazing what you can do when you're not doing theater every night) AND I scored tickets to see one of my favorite musicals, Side Show, on Broadway during it's preview weekend. *happy dance* Hope everyone reading is also having a lovely day. More writing to come! Thank you SO much for all the reviews and messages. It's nice to throw something out into the internet void and hear back that it's actually going somewhere.

Oh and because someone asked and I can't remember who it was, the song I was imagining playing when Paige was dancing in the club was Jeremih's "Don't Tell 'Em" but I usually try to leave that sort of thing up to the readers.

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><p>"Hey beautiful. How's that little monster of ours doing?" Paul asks as he sits down at the table across from his bride. Pregnancy is agreeing with her. She looks even more stunningly beautiful than he remembered.<p>

"It's good. No more morning sickness, which is a nice change. I think I've eaten every damn pickle in California though. Jakes keeps making late night runs for me." Charlie says, hating how formal the prison requires them to be. She just wants to hold him, but the table between them and the officer standing guard nearby makes that impossible.

"Still an it huh? Haven't had that ultrasound done? You're past the twenty week mark." Briggs asks. He's been reading baby books while he's behind bars. He is going to be as involved as he can be from his cell.

"Doesn't feel right without you." Charlie says, dropping her eyes to her stomach. She told herself she would not cry on this visit. These visits were the only time Briggs got to see her or the baby. She would not ruin it with tears.

"Yeah, well unfortunately, baby, it doesn't look I'm getting out of here anytime soon." Briggs says kindly. "You might want to go get that ultrasound. I have to know what color cigars to have smuggled in."

"Ok. Maybe next week." Charlie wipes the beginning of tears away, before changing the subject. "So how you doing in here? Nobody's giving you a hard time, right?"

"Nah, you remember Benzy?" Briggs asks, casually leaning back in his chair like they were just meeting for coffee.

"That big thug you put away two years ago?" Charlie asks in shock. "The one with the neck tattoos with the glandular condition? Didn't he throw a car on you once? He's in there with you? Jesus Paul, we gotta get you transferred!"

"Ok, you're blowing that car story way out of proportion." Briggs says as he motions for Charlie to remain seated and not make a scene. "But it's fine babe. We always got along when I was under and I made sure his daughter was put in good care after he was locked up. He still likes me. He's looking out for me. Nobody's been brave enough to mess with me yet."

"So you're telling me you got a new boyfriend Paul? Should I be jealous?" Charlie crosses her arms across her chest, smirking at him.

"Shit baby, you should have known with eyes as pretty as mine, I would get scooped up. Don't be jealous. You're still my girl." Paul teases her, batting his eyelashes in her direction.

"Yeah, and sounds like now you're Benzy's girl." Charlie smiles back at him.

"It's not so bad. At least he lets me be the big spoon sometimes. More than I can say for you." Paul teases, but all this does is remind Charlie that he's not there for her to hold at night and she lowers her eyes again.

"Anyone in there know you're a cop?" She asks quietly. She worries for him every day. After putting so many people away, it was only a matter of time before someone recognized Paul. Police, especially undercover ones, were not treated well in prison.

"No. Actually I get a lot of respect in here from the other inmates because somehow the rumor spread I'm doing time for being a big time cop killer. Apparently I'm being credited with the slaughter at Solano's as well as my original charges. They're calling me the Pig Farmer."

"What the hell Paul?" Charlie slams her hand on the table, wondering how he can be so cavalier about all of this. "You weren't even there when that shit went down! You gotta set the record straight!"

"Charlie, chill. No one's dumb enough to actually bring those charges against me in court. It's just a rumor that the inmates believe, and I let them. It keeps them off my back. Though the guards occasionally get prissy..." Briggs sighs. He hates that Charlie's getting all worked up. She needs to keep calm for the baby's sake. He hates that he's not at home with her to take care of her during her pregnancy.

"Well if the prosecution is dumb enough to bring charges against you for killing Mikey, they may go after you for the shit that went down at Solano's too. Somebody out there wants you to burn Paul. They're stacking the deck."

"We said we weren't going to talk about my case. Not until after my preliminary hearing. Not here." Briggs voice drops to a low warning. He didn't know who might be overhearing things or how they might be used against him in court. Spousal Immunity only went so far.

"No I know. I'm sorry." Charlie shakes her head and once again fought back tears. She's always been an emotional person, but these hormones were making things even worse.

"How's everyone at the house holding up?" Briggs asks, trying to change the subject.

"It's not the same without you." Charlie says honestly. "Jakes has really stepped up. It's kind of weird actually. He's being really sweet and nurturing. The other night he actually tried to give me a foot massage. Did you say anything to him before you left?"

"I would never. I know you can look after yourself." It's a complete lie. Briggs had sat Jakes down drunkenly the night before the wedding and made him swear up and down he would look after Charlie. He was glad to hear Dale was following through on his promise.

"Johnny's getting snappy with everyone. It's like he's always on the defensive and pissed off. Paige is withdrawn. She won't talk to anybody. She's always either working or just sits out at that rock alone staring out at the ocean. I don't know what's going on with her. Her and Mikey were acting weird around each other ever since he pulled her out of Sulla's. I think she's feeling guilty for not patching things up with him before he died."

I think she's feeling guilty for a lot more than that. Briggs thinks to himself, but instead just says "And how are you doing babe?"

"I'm surviving. Just got to take it day by day, right?" Charlie says, but her strong act is not very convincing.

"Chuck, I am so sorry you have to go through this alone, but you're the strongest woman I know. I'm so proud of you baby." Briggs says, taking her hands across the table in his, despite the nontouching policy. The guard is polite enough to look the other way and pretend he doesn't notice the intimate moment.

"Paul, you need to find a way to get out of here. You need to come back to me. I want this baby to know it's father. I want my husband beside me. You beat this Paul. You figure out how to clear your name and come home. I don't care what it takes." Charlie knows in her heart how ruthless Briggs can be. Right now she doesn't care who he has to hurt. What he's done in the past or what he needs to do in the future. She knows he's guilty but she doesn't care. She loves him, and she needs that scheming devious man to do whatever it takes to come home to her.

"I know baby. I'm working on it. I will see that child grow up." Briggs promises. "Baby I need you do to do something for me. I need you to get me a lawyer."

"You don't have one?" Charlie asks suspiciously.

"I have a specific one in mind." Briggs slides a name across the table.

"Who is Wesley Trough?" Charlie asks looking at the card he's given her.

"He comes highly recommended." Briggs says vaguely, but there must be more than he's willing to let on. Briggs never does anything without having his reasons. "Now, my times almost up, so why don't you quickly tell me all the sexy details of our honeymoon that I missed, in enough detail to make the guard over here blush."

"That's going to be pretty depressing Paul. I mostly cried on Jakes' shoulder, ate ice cream and watched old CSI reruns."

"Make it up then. I've got a lot of lonely nights to make it through here." Briggs says playfully, "Plus by the time I get home that sexy body should be the size of a whale."

"You really think you'll get home in time to see the birth?" Charlie asks hopefully, ignoring the 'whale' comment for now. He'd pay for that later.

"Baby, I'm going to do whatever it takes."


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Notes: I realize this will probably raise more questions than it answers. I promise I will be addressing what details may seem like incongruities in future chapters, but please point them out if you're wondering. Thanks so much for the support.

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><p>Paige's eyes open. She looks groggily around at her surroundings. The ground below her is hard, but she's no longer in the alleyway. Her head is pounding, and her eyes squint as they try to adjust to the darkened room. Her mouth is parched, it feels like it's filled with cotton, as she pushes herself to a seated position.<p>

She's in a sparse, cold, mostly empty room. She can't tell if it was a factory, or an old house that was stripped, but she knows she's lying on a dirty threadbare blanket on a cold cement floor. The California room is chilled with the night air, and she looks up to see a large window overlooking the city. Several of it's panes are cracked or broken. This place is not well loved.

She has no clue where she is.

She's not sure if it's the head injury, but she still doesn't feel scared. Waking up in an abandoned building after having her head bashed in, she should be terrified, but she's surprisingly calm.

She's sitting on a thin blanket in the corner, in what appears to be a makeshift bed on top of some cardboard. She seems to have been laid there with great care, despite its humble settings. A thin jacket is covering her like a blanket. Her shoes and purse sit within reach, but other than that, she is completely clothed. Her eyes quickly span the sparse room, trying to make out shapes in the moonlight. The only pieces of furniture in the room are a broken down desk and next to the desk is a chair with a man slouched in it asleep.

It's dark, but she would know that silhouette anywhere.

None of this makes sense. She tries to remember what happened, how any of this came to be. Her mind flashes back to the alleyway with Pedro. She thought she was going to die there. Before that, she was in the club, and she'd been dancing... and it _had_ been Mike she'd danced with.

She'd known it.

Dammit, of course, she knew it!

Why had she doubted herself? What was it about Mike that made her doubt her own instincts? She was god damn Paige Arkin. Her BS meter never lied. Why did he make her question everything she ever knew? That asshole! Why had he run from her? And if he had been alive all this time, why hadn't he let her known sooner?

Paige can feel the familiar tendrons of anger wrapping around her spine, but she pushes the emotion down. She has spent so long being angry at Mike, that she doesn't want that right now. Anger is the easy familiar path that she won't allow herself to take tonight.

He's alive.

Or she's dead.

It doesn't really matter.

She doesn't know how or why all she knows is she's reunited with Mike somehow. That's what's important.

She silently climbs to her feet and looks around the space. It was just one room. No kitchen. no bathroom. Just a sink. There were papers hanging on the otherwise bare walls of Mike scribbling notes. She walks cautiously across the room towards Mike.

He's propped up in the chair facing where she had been laying in the corner. His chin rests on his chest and his arms are crossed loosely across his body. It doesn't look particularly comfortable. She doesn't want to disturb him, but she can't help but reach out to run her fingers through his unnaturally mussed hair. She just needs to make sure he's real.

Her gentle touch wakes him. He sits up a little straighter in the chair, trying to pretend he didn't fall asleep while guarding her. She smiles to herself. Even after all they'd been through, he was too much of a gentleman to sleep on the ground beside her without express permission. Boyscout.

"Hey." His voice is heavy from sleep as he sleepily rubs his face. His thin cheeks and sunken eyes don't escape her notice, but he seems to be avoiding her gaze. "How are you feeling?"

"It was you." She breaths aloud to herself in wonder. "You were at the club."

He nods his head ever so slightly as he closes his eyes. She stands over where he sits in the broken chair. Her fingers run through his hair, and he leans his cheek into her touch. She forgot how boyish he looks when he's sleepy. She takes in every change as she stares at him for a moment, watching him in wonder. His hair is longer, the lines around his eyes more defined and a thick scruff that threatens to become a beard covers his normally clean shaven face.

She feels like she's waking up from a bad dream. Or maybe she's just fallen asleep and she's dreaming of him again. He's wearing a black t-shirt... No wait, it's the same gray t-shirt he was wearing when she last saw him, just so stained by blood and grime it looks black. His dark jeans ride low on his hips, the brown belt just barely managing to hold them up.

His eyes are still closed, as if he is afraid to open them. Finally with a deep sigh, and what seems like a good bit of willpower, he stands up. He avoids eye contact with her by leaning in to examine her forehead. Paige on the other hand openly stares at him, mesmerized. She still can't believe he's here. She has so many things she wants to ask him, so many things to say to him, she doesn't know where to start.

She stares up at his stubbled jaw and the thin set of his mouth as he examines her injured head. She watches the way the lines of muscle shift in his forearms as he carefully brings his hands to her face to maneuver her head for inspection. Her eyes lower to his neck, and a small smile graces her lips when she sees his adam's apple move as he takes a nervous gulp of air. He's trying to play it cool and detached, but Paige can tell he's nervous as hell.

He observes her head in a clinical way, finally murmuring in a soft voice, "Who are you?"

"Mike, you know who I am…" Paige can't hide the hurt tone of surprise in her voice. There was a time when she thought Mike knew her better than anyone. She worries she's wrecked that trust now.

"Do you know what today is?" He continues to gently press against her bruised forehead, apparently pleased the bleeding had stopped. Mike still doesn't make eye contact as he stares at her head.

"Oh god, how long was I out?" Paige starts to panic. Were people going to be looking for her? How was she going to explain this to the bureau? What had she missed while she was unconscious? It seems these days she turns her back for a second and the whole world turns upside down.

"Not that long. A few hours." Mike's lips turn up into a small smirk at the edges. He finally stops examining her head and leans down to looks into her eyes. Not so much in them, but at them, like he's searching for something. "What do you remember prior to getting attacked?"

"I was at the club… I thought I was going crazy, but you were there. I was dancing and you came up behind me and…" Paige's hand instinctively comes up to the spot on her neck that still tingled from where Mike's lips had touched. A shiver runs through her body as she remembers the feel of him grinding behind her, kissing her neck. She looks up at him suspiciously, "Why are you asking me all this?"

"I'm trying to see if you have a concussion." He shrugs, seemingly satisfied that she was alright.

He turns and walks back to lean against the desk a few feet away from her. She's trying to figure out his cold aloof, clinical behavior. Just a few hours ago at the club there was nothing cold about him. She stares at him in confusion and waits for him to speak again.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought you here." He finally says, looking down at the floor again. "I just didn't know what else to do."

Paige can feel the space he's putting between them and it physically hurts. She hasn't seen Mike in forever and all she wants to do now is be close to him. She crosses the room to lean against the desk beside him so her side brushes against his.

"Where is here? This is where you're living?" She looks around the small run down room. He was obviously squatting.

"For the moment. I move a lot." Mike says defensively, scooting an inch over so he can't feel her skin burning against his. He shifts uncomfortably, arms crossed across his chest looking down at his feet. "Your head looks ok. Maybe you better go."

"Go?" She feels like the words knock the breath out of her. She just found him again. She can't just 'go'.

"Yeah…" Mike says running a hand down his face. "Just leave, Paige. Pretend you never saw me."

"What time is it?" She asks, looking up at him, trying to figure out what was going through his mind. Trying to stall. She didn't want to leave him.

He gives her a knowing look, and reaches over to gently grasp her left wrist. Lifting her arm to inspect her watch he says, "About two am."

"Maybe I should stay until it's light." Paige says, not even trying to hide the suggestive tone in her voice, "This isn't the best part of town."

"You don't know what part of town this is." Mike points out, somewhat breathlessly. He still hasn't let go of her wrist and his thumb is unconsciously tracing small circles over her pulse.

"Better safe than sorry." She says, looking at his hand on her wrist with fascination.

"It's not safe for you to be here." He says darkly, looking away and letting her wrist fall back to her lap.

"It's not safe for you here, either." She argues.

"I've put you in enough danger tonight. I shouldn't have been at that club. If anyone finds out you saw me-"

"If you weren't at that club, I might not be alive." Paige tries to assure him.

His eyes squeeze shut and he shakes his head like the very thought actually pains him.

Being here with Mike doesn't even feel real. Paige doesn't want to leave him. Not now. She doesn't want to return to the real world without him. The real world holds nothing but pain and loneliness and... Pedro… Shit.

"Fuck, what am I going to do about Pedro?" She mutters out loud to herself. She supposes she could have him arrested for battery and try to flip him, but it would ruin her cover.

"He won't bother you anymore." Mike's voice darkens as he pushes off the desk to go stand across the room, away from her. Staring out one of the broken windows he says quietly, "You should go home, Paige. Get some sleep."

"Fine." Paige says in frustration.

She doesn't know why he keeps pushing her away. Closing himself off to her. Things have been strained between her and Mike for what feels like forever, but after fearing he was truly dead, it all seemed so petty. He's back in her life now, and she won't lose him again. So Paige decides to play dirty.

"Fine, I'll just grab my purse and-" Paige stands up and allows her knees to go weak as she begins to faint. Sure enough, Mike catches her before she even comes close to the ground. Cradling her in his arms his eyes rake over her in concern.

"Shit. That head wound must be worst than I thought. I knew I should have taken you to a hospital." Mike starts berating himself as he begins to fuss over her head again.

"I'm fine. Just a little dizzy." Having him so close again, surrounding her, she breaths in his scent, burying her nose in the fabric of his grey tshirt. She's standing on her own now, but Mike's arms are still protectively around her.

"Jesus…" Mike groans as he once again stares at the gash on her forehead. Paige can't help but be reminded of back when their relationship was so new and exhilarating that even a knife to her hand couldn't dull the excitement she felt around him. "He really got you. How are you feeling? Honestly."

How's she feeling? She's feeling everything. Every emotion possible is all at once is racing through her veins. If she could choose only one, it would be relief. He's alive, and she still can't believe it and she just wants to hold him tight until she's convinced he'll never leave her side again. However, she can't tell him that, and it's not really what he's asking, so she'll take the easy way out.

"My head hurts." She admits, touching where her head had hit the wall and the ground.

"I think I've still got some pain killers around here somewhere from the hospital." He gently rests her in the chair, and then starts scrounging around through piles of papers and photos. She imagines this room is how his mind must look right now. Depressing, scattered and overburdened. He finds the bottle and holds the pills out to her. "Here."

"You didn't take these?" Paige asks, looking at the mostly full bottle. He hands her a lukewarm bottle of water, and leans back against the desk still trying to wipe sleep from his eyes.

"Only when I really needed them. They make it hard for me to think." His arms are crossed as he looks around the place, seemingly embarrassed of his humble abode.

"You must be in a lot of pain." Her eyes flicker down to his injured side which she can tell from his stance he's still favoring. He shrugs noncommittally.

She takes one of the pills and chases it with a sip of water. Crossing the room to where he's leaning against the desk she sets the pill bottle down on the desk beside him. He eyes her warily, his arms crossed across his chest, taking in her close proximity. At the club when she wasn't facing him, he was all hands and confidence, but now with her eyes staring up at him, he's reserved and cautious. She holds up one small pill in her fingers.

"You don't need to think tonight, Mike." His eyes flicker over to the pill and then cautiously back to her eyes.

He considers it, and she can see his mind turning. She can tell he's worried about giving up his mental edge around her. It's true they have a lot to talk about, but tonight Paige doesn't want to talk. She just needs to release the relief that has poured into her heart at seeing him again. He finally seems to come to a decision and without a word, he opens his mouth and closes it around the small pill she places on his tongue. He swallows it dry, his eyes still locked on hers.

She leans in to chase the pill with a kiss.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: I'm glad everyone is happy to see Mike again. I promise I'll address some of the backstory there in future chapters, but I'm trying to keep the story from becoming too full blown PIKEcentric and give the other characters some time as well, so this chapter goes to Sid. Big thanks for all the reviews! Seriously even the little "Hi I'm reading" ones make my day.

Enjoy the consistent updates while you can, because even though I swore I'd take the rest of the year off from theater, a certain role I love may have come along and... I'm considering it.

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><p>The sun is not even peeking over the horizon as Sid Markum walks down the halls of the police precinct. He likes to be one of the first in the office each morning. Needs to stay on top of things, especially now that they've had to replace half the police officers on the fourth floor due to the shooting that went down at Solano's.<p>

He reaches down and subconsciously adjusts the bandage on his side. It's healed, the gunshot was clean, but it still stings every now and then. He has a feeling it will be a pain in his side long after the actual trauma.

Kind of like Mike Warren. He'd been dead for two months, and Sid still was dealing with the mess he'd made. Solano was dead. Carlito was an idiot, but was so far managing to stay in business and out of trouble. Sid's whole team was dead so he didn't fear of any leaks in information from that angle. The only possible problem left was Paul West aka Paul Briggs, but he'd conveniently been arrested without any interference from Sid. Apparently he'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time and had been arrested for the murder that Sid had committed.

Sid hadn't decided what he would do about the rest of the agents at Graceland. Part of him wanted to slaughter them just to give the finger to the dead cocky kid who'd caused him so much trouble. The other part of him didn't know if it would be necessary. He didn't want to kill them if he didn't have a reason to, and so far they hadn't given him a reason. He wasn't sure exactly what the other agents knew about him. That alone might be reason enough to hunt them down, but he had to do it right. Had to do it in a way that didn't attract too much attention to himself.

He'd been biding his time. He didn't want to make a move right now, Not with Clark at the FBI still suspecting him after Warren had smeared his name to whoever would listen. Granted, Warren's own reputation was disgraced, so there was no investigation on Sid now, but he didn't want to attract any attention to himself. So for now he was simply monitoring the events at Graceland, which short of Mikey's funeral and Briggs arrest, had been pretty dull.

He'd assigned a rookie cop to the investigation as a private project so it wouldn't seem too obvious he was spying. Every morning he would meet Franks for coffee and Franks would debrief him on what was happening in the house.

"So what's my daily update?" Sid says, not looking up from the coffee he's pouring into his mug at Franks who comes up beside him.

"Tuturro-" Franks begins, but Sid cuts him off.

"I'm not worried about Tuturro, Carlito will keep him in line." Sid dismisses the news quickly, moving on. These morning briefings can't take too long or people may get suspicious. He wants his information in the quickest way possible. Prompting the younger agent he asks, "Paul still locked up?"

"Yes sir." Franks answers.

"He would have made a play by now if he had anything up his sleeve." Sid ponders aloud as he takes a sip of his coffee and grimaces. The new cop they hired didn't know how to make coffee compared to Martinez. Damn that Warren for forcing his hand and making him lose his team. Shaking his head to forget his fallen team members he continues, "Anything new with his girl? The mouthy one?"

"She went to visit him. They've got her doing desk work due to her condition-"

"She's pregnant you idiot. Just say it. The word "condition" makes it sound like she's mutating. You have any kids Franks?" Sid asks for the first time about the officer's personal life and it seems to take Franks off guard.

"No sir." Franks stammers back nervously.

"Good. Don't have 'em." Sid's voice is brisk and dismissive. Franks was way too incompetent to be in charge of human life. Also, Sid's pretty sure he's a fairy. Ok enough small talk, back to the case. "Ok, so did Briggs and his baby mama discuss anything of interest?"

"No sir. Just the pregnancy and general small talk. She was less weepy this time." Franks says, looking disgusted by the thought of a woman crying. Definitely gay.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure even pregnant and crying that dime could kick your ass, Franks." Sid says distractedly. "What about the other two?"

"ICE has it's hands full with the current ebola scare." Franks says, still pouting a little at Sid's insult.

"Are they worried about it coming up from the Mexican border now too?" Sid asks flipping through the file, not seeing how this would affect Agent Dale Jake's.

"No, but they've diverted a large portion of their human resources to handle possible containment and exposure and are cracking down on immigration. They have Agent Jakes covering almost all the overflow from the smuggling cases the other agents can't take."

"Ok, translation, he won't have time to scratch his ass let alone be planning to give me trouble." Sid says as he flips through Jakes file in front of him and then sets it down crossing his arms and leaning back against the desk. "What's blondie up to? She's the one I'm most worried about."

"Mostly been quiet, but there is a possible new development. It could be nothing."

"Since the day I first heard Warren's name, nothing has been nothing." Sid groans as he remembers what a pain the ass that little shit was. The thought is reinforced as he takes another sip of his terrible coffee. Dammit Warren. Continuing on, he asks, "What is it?"

"A few days Agent Arkin went under in a new case. She made contact with a Pedro Perez who has a weakness for easy blondes and easy money."

"Don't we all? But I've never heard of him." Sid says as he looks at Pedro's picture in the file Franks has handed him.

"Don't know why you would have. He's small time, but word on the street was he was going to be making a deal with Mateo Jimenz."

"Jimenz I've heard of. Ok, little bigger of a deal, but still seems pretty standard procedure. Go under as bait for one of the small fishes and use that one to catch a larger one. Sounds like blondie's staying out of my hair. Why do I care Franks?"

"A meet was supposed to occur last night and Agent Arkin was scheduled to be present for it. A few hours ago Pedro was found shot to death in an alleyway behind Mad Flutters club."

"Who names these dives?" Sid mutters aloud to himself, "What's Arkin's story?"

"I don't know. Agent Arkin has not been seen since she left for her meet last night and hasn't checked back in with her handlers yet."

"So blondie might be dead too. Well that could tie up another problem all on it's own then. I don't need to chase these assholes if they're gonna keep up with this level of self destruction. Keep me updated." Sid says, passing the file back to Franks, and dumping the rest of his terrible coffee in the trash.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: More PIKE? Oh well, ok. If you insist. There's a bit of sexy times in this chapter (I try to stay pretty vague, nothing too detailed. Should be able to hold onto the T rating)

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!

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><p>Mike Warren is pretty sure he's just died.<p>

Again.

Because Mike can't breath.

Can't move.

Can't think.

_Again._

His heart is beating wildly in his chest at exactly the same rhythm it did when Sid Markum was squeezing his ventilator tube. All the same signs are there. The pounding heart. The sweaty palms. The uncontrollable squirming. The lack of air. Lack of thought. The desperation. The need.

Mike's entire world shakes and then freezes. He's afraid to move. His brain churns to a stop, completely unable to process one vital piece of information...Paige is kissing him.

Paige is kissing him, and it feels exactly like he's drowning alive on land with the exception of the one crucial difference that this time it feels incredible.

He closes his eyes, his breathing coming out choppy, as he stands there and allows her to kiss him. Her lips softly brush against his, trying to coax the Mike she knows out from where he's hiding in this hallow shell of a man.

Slowly coming back to the world, he brings a hand up to brush the hair back from her face. His fingers tangling in her blonde hair as finally he begins to kiss her back. Once he starts, he can't stop. He turns his body so he can get more and more contact until he's finally leaning over her, pinning her to the desk, kissing her lips with a building intensity.

She runs her hands over his abdomen and is shocked at how she can feel each rib clearly outlined, all the weight gone from his normally muscular body. He looks down at her hands in embarrassment. He doesn't want her to see how hard this is for him. How much he's struggling.

He doesn't want her pity. He brought this upon himself. He knows he needs to suffer to atone for his sins, but he doesn't want her to see him like this. He can offer her nothing but pain, and she deserves so much more. Part of him wants to tell her to run. To transfer to another department in another town, to leave him and Graceland behind. To be safe. The other part of him doesn't know how he would survive without her.

Just the memory of her, seems like the only thing that's been sustaining him these past few weeks of hiding.

"I'm sorry..." She starts to speaks, but he stops her.

"I don't care." He brings both hands to her face and pulls her in for another kiss. "This wasn't you."

Paige decides for once, not to argue with him, and instead drags the hem of his shirt up his body. He finishes the job of removing it, and lets it drop to the floor beside them, leaning back in and bringing her legs so they wrap around his waist. He kisses her mouth again and again shoving her back down on the desk, his hands running up her smooth leg. He savors the feeling of her fingers on his bare skin, the human connection he hasn't had since his death. He wonders if she knows how much he needs this. How much he needs her.

She brings her hands down to the back of his pants, trying to force his hips to dig deeper into hers. Mike pulls back slightly, his breathing rough. Things are getting out of hand quickly. He doesn't even know what happened to her at Sulla's, and he doesn't want her to do something she's not comfortable with in apology or out of pity.

"Paige, you don't have to do this. Your head-" He begins to protest, but looking down at her lust filled eyes, he can't even keep his lips away from her long enough to finish his sentence.

With a deep growl of frustration at his own lack of willpower, he crushes his lips back on top of her's so roughly the two of them nearly fall off the desk. He catches his balance on the wall behind her and she wraps her legs tighter around his waist, climbing up his body, until she no longer needs the support of the desk he's just holding her.

He looks up at her in wonder, as she finally pulls her lips away to stroke his face gently. She is so heartbreakingly beautiful. Even with the ugly gash on her forehead, she seems to glow in the pale moonlight from the broken window. She looks out of place in this dark grungy room.

He doesn't know how tonight he ended up with her in his arms. He hasn't had her here since before the tinkerbells. Before it all started falling apart. He has to look away from her gentle stare, and he begins to set her down. He can feel the guilt for past events wrapping around his neck like a noose.

She slides down his body and Mike sets her gently on the ground. He watches her as she walks around the room, examining every detail of her surrounding casually. He's slow and sluggish these days, the malnutrition and despair eating away at him. Having her here feels like he's waking up from the dead, and he's unprepared for the return of emotions he hasn't felt in months.

She looks at the tattered blanket in the corner on the concrete floor. Turning to him in a hushed whisper she asks, "This is where you sleep?"

He nods, awaiting her reaction sadly. He didn't want her to see this. He wanted her to believe that he had it all under control. That he had a plan. That he was winning. But right now he's not sure what to do. Sid is still out there.

So far Sid doesn't know Mike's alive, but it's only a matter of time before he figures it out, or until he does something to attack the house. Until he attacks her. Even though the practical part of Mike knows Briggs broke the law and should be in jail, with Sid still at large, Mike would have preferred having Briggs in the house. Maybe he could protect them if Mike couldn't. The truth is Mike has no clue what to do next and he's struggling just to survive, worried every day someone else might pay for his sins.

Paige walks across the room and kneels down on the floor where the blanket is. She looks up at him invitingly and he tries to burn the image into his brain. He picks his shirt up off of the floor, and rolls it up in a ball for a makeshift pillow for her.

"Here. I'm sorry, it's not more comfortable." He looks around the room for anything that might be clean enough to touch her skin.

She tucks the shirt behind her head and holds out her hand for him to join her. He takes off his shoes, and cautiously lies down next to her on the floor. He hasn't felt this nervous around Paige since he came home from the hospital after she called him a rat. She notices his nerves and puts her fingers through his belt loops, dragging him on top of her.

"Now I'm comfortable." She purrs once his weight settles on top of her.

"Really?" He asks, looking down cautiously at the beautiful woman underneath him.

He doesn't deserve her. When he returned to Graceland, when he was so certain he was going to shut down the buses and win, he thought maybe he was worthy of her. He felt like a rockstar. Felt confident. Felt like her equal. But now, after he's messed up time and time again... Lost her trust. Put her in danger. Failed. How could she still want him like this?

"Perfect." She purrs before brushing her lips over his.

He allows himself to get lost in her kisses. The small room that's seemed like hell for so many weeks suddenly feels like their own little haven away from the harsh reality of the world.

In the moonlight, the two lovers become reacquainted, softly touching and kissing while slowly removing each other's clothing until there are no barriers left between them. In the cool night air, there is nothing but a thin layer of cloth over both their bodies warming each other. Hours pass unnoticed by the two, until finally Mike's head emerges from under the blanket to kiss Paige sweetly after he's sure he's brought her to a contented afterglow.

"I love this shade of pink." he murmurs as he lies next to her, skimming his finger across the blush that has spread across her chest from the climax Mike brought her to. "It's my favorite color on you."

"You've taken your time tonight." She smiles at him knowingly. The hours of foreplay have been wonderful, but Paige aches for something more. She needs to be joined with him again. To see the way he looks at her when he's above her. Around her. Inside her.

"I don't want tonight to end." He admits, kissing her collarbone.

"It doesn't have to."

"Paige..." Mike sighs. This night has to end. It should have never begun. It's a moment Mike stole that he's sure he'll have to pay for later.

"Mike, I can't wait any longer." Paige says softly, trying to pull him closer.

At the club things had escalated so quickly. The heat had ignited and had they not been interrupted Paige is certain she would have been fucking Mike in that alleyway before the second song was finished. Here at the warehouse however, Mike has been unbelievably patient and controlled. Paige is ready for more. She's never had the same level of patience as Mike.

"I don't have protection." He admits softly to her, running a finger up her arm.

This would have to be enough for him. Lying beside her, with soft words, kisses and touches. He doesn't need anything more. This is already more than he deserves. This stolen night with her. Her forgiveness.

"It's ok." She assures him, encouraging him on top of her. "I want you."

Mike ponders her meaning as she brings him to settle between her legs. He wonders if she means she already has taken care of it, or if she wants to risk it with him. For a moment he thinks about that possible future. Her carrying his child. He wonders whether he would be there at her side or still in hiding. In jail. Dead. His mind begins to race with how bleak things seem for their future, but then he's inside of her and all his thoughts melt into colors and the soft sigh escaping her lips turns to music in his ear.

They make love for the first time in months. Possibly for the first time ever, because Mike never remembers it being like this. Sex with her before was a lot of things. It was hot and playful. Dirty and sweet. It was always amazing, but it had never been like this. Tonight it was intense and beautiful with just a touch of sadness.

The two rock together on the dirty floor, wrapped in a blanket, finding a momentary reprieve from the outside world in each others bodies. Mike trembles in her arms, all his defenses down for her. He's weak, vulnerable and ashamed but gives her whatever strength he has left. She lets him back into her life, back into her body and soul, and he would have given up his life long ago if he knew that was the path to her forgiveness.

Only hours later, when the sun is shining through the boarded up windows and they are both sated and spent, does Paige drift off to sleep in Mike's arm's. Mike stays awake, watching her, unwilling to sacrifice a second of this dream to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: This chapter is a flashback that begins in Season 2's finale where Mike and Paige are in the warehouse together.

* * *

><p>****FLASHBACK***<p>

Paige crouches beside Mike on the dirty floor. She can't believe she's been such a bitch to him these last few months. Now he's lying here, in pain, and she can't do anything to help. He won't let her drive him to the hospital. She's doesn't blame him. With the way she's been acting...

Nervously, she starts talking about work just to fill the silence. She wants to give him hope that Lina is out there. Hope that something in this string of disasters has gone right.

"...Good. It's better if they believe." He says weakly as he lies on his side facing away from her.

"Believe?" Paige catches the word, and gets that feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach again."Believe what?"

"That she's happy. That she's in a better place. It's better for them."

"You did it…" Paige's voice breaks. "She's dead."

"Paige, no! Don't go." Mike rolls over on his injured side and hisses with the pain but manages to grab her wrist to stop her.

"Tell me the truth!" Paige doesn't know what to believe anymore. How does he keep messing with her head? With her heart.

"You already know…" Mike groans weakly, squeezing his eyes shut in pain. "You know me Paige."

"No, I don't know who you are, Mike. Not anymore-" Paige insists. This cannot be the same innocent wide eyed boy who first arrived on the steps of Graceland who sounded like an encyclopedia of facts and rules when he spoke. She wants him back.

"Yes, you do!" Mike growls, insistently, tired of her claiming she didn't. She knew him better than anyone. She was the only one he couldn't fool. She could see him better than he could see himself sometimes. "You know who I am. You may not like it, but you know me. Just like I know you."

She stares down at him, her jaw set firm and tears brimming in her eyes. But she doesn't run. Doesn't leave. Doesn't yell. So Mike continues talking.

"You were right. About everything, Paige." Mike gasps feebly. "I went under for you. I stayed in there for _you_. I thought I could, I don't know, protect them? Make it up to you for keeping the place open? Prove to you I cared? God, I don't know what I was thinking. I got so wrapped up in things…"

"What happened to Lina, Mike?" Paige interrupts his rambling to cut straight to the point.

"You already know Paige. Don't make me say it." Mike squeezes his eyes shut and rolls away from her. He wants her to still have that hope, that small glimmer she had when she came in here. He wishes she would just let it go, but it's Paige and she won't.

"No! You have to say it! Dammit, grow some balls and just fucking say it. Tell me Mike! What happened to Lina?" Paige screams at him. She knows. She's always known. Ever since she found that backpack in the garbage, she's known she signed that poor girls death warrant. She just needs to hear the words. She can't live like this anymore.

"Everything that happened to Lina... I knew that if I'd done what you wanted that day... If I'd

taken Lina instead of you… it would have been you. It would have been you getting beaten and raped, and I couldn't handle it. I just snapped." Mike tries to explain, but she just sits there glaring at him. He's still not saying the words. Can't he see how much more painful drawing this out is making it for her?

"I had to protect her. I tried to protect her. I had to get her out of there. And Sulla saw that. He saw how much Lina meant to me. How much _you_ meant to me, Paige... and he killed her. He killed her to punish me. For my disobedience. For my arrogance... and it worked. He doesn't know how well it worked because I didn't just lose Lina, I lost you. I lost any hope of us being together again. Of you trusting me." Mike is nearly in tears himself as well by this point. "Please, Paige-"

"And you burned her." Paige says in a cold accusing voice.

"He told me to clean up the mess-" Mike tries once again to sidestep. To explain. Not to say it in such a harsh way but Paige won't let him.

"So you burned her!" Paige repeats. She just needs him to say the goddamn words.

"I burned her." Mike closes his eyes in defeat.

He's given in.

He's broken.

He's failed.

And now she'll leave him. She'll leave him and that will be the end. All of their past happy memories together will be burned in that fire as well. That's all he'll ever be to her now. The man who burned Lina's body. A moment passes though and he doesn't hear her footsteps leaving. Then another moment. She's still here.

Mike dares to open his eyes. She's sitting beside him, hugging herself tight, silently weeping. Mike pushes himself up, ignoring the pain, to lean in to her. He knows it might scare her off but he can't help it. She is hurting and he needs to reach for her.

"Paige, I swear. I tried. I did everything I could. Sulla-"

"Sulla didn't make you burn that body Mike. He didn't hit you with that crowbar. He didn't lie to me for weeks-" Paige jerks back from his touch, and begins to yell at him. Tears running down her face.

"How could I tell you?" Mike demands, "How could I break your heart after all you'd been through? I promised you. I promised you I'd get her out and I… Paige, you have to believe me, if I could have traded my life for hers, I would have"

She slaps him. There's no thought, no reason behind it. It just happens.

"How can I believe you? You lied. You're a liar. You had the chance to change things, Mike." She accuses him, and he looks at her confused by her logic, rubbing his face calculating in his head why it was that comment out of all of them that got him slapped. "You could have bought Lina, and left me-"

"No." Mike cuts her off harshly.

"I could have handled myself." Paige argues back with him. She sighs and tries to take a different tactic. "Knowing everything you know now. Just admit you were wrong. That you would do things differently."

"I wish I could go back and change a lot of things." Mike says, applying pressure to his side. "Choosing you will never be one of them."

"What would you change?" Mike rolls his eyes at Paige's question. He's bleeding out on the floor here. Now was not the time for him to sit here counting regrets.

"For starters I would have BRIGGS HERE INSTEAD OF YOU!" He yells out in frustration with so much force, that he has to lean over to support his side.

"Well too bad because you're stuck with me! If you really want to get rid of me you'll have to let me drive you to the hospital." She yells at him. He was still being a stubborn obstinate asshole.

"I will get myself there! Dammit Paige, just go! Why did you even come?" Mike groans.

He needs time to think. He can never think with Paige around. Wasn't there some study that proved beautiful women made men stupider? Christ, not the thing to focus on right now. How much blood had he lost?

"I came to apologize! Because I felt horrible for the way I'd been treating you. But now I find out I was right all along. You sent that letter!" Paige yells down at him, not caring how much pain he's in. She won't take it easy on him.

"You were never supposed to get that letter! It was meant for her family." Mike says, staring off to the side. He's exhausted. He's so tired of having this fight with her. There is so many other things he should be focusing on right now. Dwelling on the past, On all the ways he's fucked up, is not helping.

"It had her prints. The handwriting was perfectly crafted. Her own sister-" Paige begins to list off the exquisite detail of the letter. He had to know she'd find it. Why else would he have written it? He was just trying to throw her off his scent. Which he nearly had.

"That was the point, Paige!" Mike cuts her off. His head is pounding and his injury needs medical attention. Her being here has completely derailed his plans and he needs to think. He can't do that with her sitting there yelling at him.

"You're a sociopath… Normal people don't put that much obsession, that level of detail-"

"And that is why you love me!" Mike snaps at her, his own mind somewhere else, working through how he will get away from Sid as he talks. He's only half paying attention to her harping and even less attention to what he's saying, but he continues talking anyways, "Because I'm just as crazy as you!"

"I am nothing like you."

"Oh please. Focused. Obsessive. The attention to detail. The inability to let things go. We are two parts of the same cloth." Mike laughs bitterly. "You've known Lina's been dead for weeks now. You've known the truth, yet you kept digging. Kept obsessing. All that couldn't have been about Lina. Your obsession wasn't about finding her. It was about proving I did it. You have the worst way of showing it of any woman I've met, but you care about me. And it scares the hell out of you."

"Once again you think everything is about you." Paige scoffs at his arrogance.

"No. I think this about you. For some reason you've decided you need to hate me, and you've been looking for reasons to back that up for months now. And guess what, Paige? You've found them. Congratulations. Now can you please just leave?!" Mike insists again. He needs a new plan. Again. Because all of his plans so far have had a spectacular way of blowing up in his face.

Paige is so stunned by his accusation. She doesn't love him. She can't. How could she after what he's done? How could he think she did after the way she'd treated him? And now that the words were out there. Now that he'd said that, he was what? Just giving up? Telling her to go. They are finally talking to each other, finally saying all the unsaid words, and now he's telling her to go? Has she finally pushed him too far and now he's just given up? He lies there, his back to her, and she doesn't know what else to say.

She's stunned.

In a daze she stands up and does the only thing she can.

She walks out of the warehouse, leaving Mike lying on the ground. She doesn't even notice the rain pouring down upon her. It's only once she's sitting in the front seat of her car that the tears begin to pour like the rain on the hood. Sitting in the parked car, she's never felt so lost.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: This scene still takes place in the flashback to the finale episode. This is one of my favorite chapters I think. I've been wanting to write a version of this since I saw the finale and this chapter is really the first thought I had that became this story. Hope you enjoy it!

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><p>****CONTINUED FLASHBACK****<p>

Mike lies on the cold floor of the warehouse, hating Sid and hating himself even more. Paige is gone, but he's still struggling to focus. At this point, staying conscious itself is a struggle. He shouldn't have sent her away. Especially like that. If he has to go on the run, who knows if he would ever see her again. Not that he thinks he'll get far in this state. Dying right here on the floor is seeming like a better and better option.

He grits his jaw as he hears footsteps approaching him across the concrete floor. He doesn't need to turn around to know she came back. What he doesn't know is why.

"You're right."

She could have shot him and he would have been less surprised.

"What are you still doing here? Right about what?" Mike asks, wondering if he's hallucinating. This doesn't quite feel real.

Somehow Mike gets a new burst of adrenaline and he finds the energy to push himself up to a seated position leaning against the wall. He looks at her warily. These were words he never expected to hear from Paige. She's just about as stubborn as he is. He examines her face for any betrayal of what she might be thinking. She looks like she's been crying, but has pulled herself together now with a stoic resolve.

"Why do you think I wanted Lina out so badly Mike?" Paige asks, in a quiet voice.

"She was just a scared girl-" Mike closes his eyes, feeling guilty. Somehow it was easier with her hating him.

"They were all scared girls, Mike." Paige says practically. "I think the reason I can't forgive you for Lina's death, is I can't forgive myself for it."

Mike looks at her with a new understanding. He always knew she felt guilty, responsible for Lina somehow, but once she'd started blaming Mike for keeping the place open, for keeping Lina in there, that guilt had seemed to disappear. Now he saw that it hadn't, it had just been redirected in his direction. He wishes he could have been there for her these past few months. He wishes she would have let him be the shoulder to cry on rather then the punching bag. He knows he's hurt her, but he didn't know how much she was hurting herself.

He scoots over to make room for her as she sits down next to him leaning against the wall. It's like the past hour of emotional highs and lows have completely zapped her energy. The two sit in silence for a moment, both replaying everything that's happened, using the wall for physical support when the support they really need can only come from the other.

"So where does that leave us?" Mike finally asks. His voice doesn't hold much hope.

"I don't know." She answers honestly.

"Paige, I care about you so much-" Mike turns towards her, despite the pain, trying to convince her.

"I know." She says, and she knows it's true. Everything he'd done, had been for her. She just has been mad at him for so long, feeling anything else seems foreign.

Mike stares at her sadly. She feels so close, and yet so far away. She shivers a bit, and he adds her discomfort to the list of things he feels responsible for.

"You're soaked." Mike leans in to touch her damp hair. "You need to go home. You'll get sick if you sit around like this."

She laughs through her tears, and somehow the pain in Mike's side seems to lessen. "What?"

"You're bleeding out on the floor, and you're still worried about me catching a cold." She smiles sadly as she turns to lean against the wall facing him. "Come on. Get up. The storm's passed. Let me take you to the hospital."

"I can't go with you Paige. I need to think." Mike groans, turning away from her again, breaking the tender moment.

"What are you talking about?" Paige asks, looking over at him suspiciously. He's hiding something.

"He shouldn't have sent you." Mike mumbles to himself.

Paige realizes he's doing that thing. That thinking thing Mike does, where he gets so wrapped up in his head that he starts mumbling to himself, and it's only in fragments because his brain is working faster than his mouth ever could. Which means Paige can't quite follow is stream of thought ramblings. "He was supposed to come. Briggs should have been here. If Briggs doesn't do it then Sid will still-"

"Mike what are you talking about? I brought you the IDs. Mike, you need to go to the hospital, let me drive you there…" Paige reaches forward to touch his shoulder, trying to get him to focus.

"NO!" Mike says harshly, jerking hard away from her. "It has to be Briggs!"

"Mike, I know things have been tense between us recently, but I'm still on your side. You can trust me. What do you need?" Mike is getting agitated, and she's worried he's going to hurt himself even further. If he would just let her see his side, maybe she could help, but apparently she is the last person on earth who Mike wants help from.

"I need you to go. Pretend you never saw me." Mike groans. His plans never work. It should have never been her here. He has to keep her safe.

"Mike, I'm not leaving you. Not like this." Paige says stubbornly.

"You want to help me? Then get in your damn car and drive away, Paige. Call Briggs, and tell him to get his ass down here, I can still-" Mike yells the words at her in a harsh tone that would make any other person shrink back from the venom behind them, but Paige knows Mike too well to let his anger distract her.

"What do you need Briggs to do Mike? Tell me!" Paige is sick of the lies. Sick of him trying to protect her from the truth. He's hiding something from her.

He bites him lip and stares stubbornly up at the ceiling.

"What aren't you telling me Mike? Tell me the truth! After all we've been through, you owe me that. For once! Tell me." She gets up on her knees and leans in so she is right up next to his face. She is about two seconds away from reaching down and pressing his injury, torturing him for the information, when he finally relents.

After a long moment passes, he finally says, "I need Briggs to go to Sid and give him my location."

"What?" Paige isn't sure what she was expecting, but it wasn't that. She feels like the breath has left her body. She falls back suddenly needing the wall for support.

"It's the only way."

She almost slaps him again.

She would slap him if he didn't look so pathetic leaning against the wall holding his side. What was he thinking? Was he suicidal?

"Paige, he's told everyone I shot those guy's at Solanos. It's my word against his. I need to get more proof. I need time. Time to figure this all out. I was wrong before. I tried to face everything head on and it just blows up in my face." Mike tries to make her see this is the only way, "This time, Sid can't see me coming."

"So run!" Paige's voice echos in the empty warehouse.

"Paige, I need to get the upper hand on this guy. He knows I'm on the run. He won't stop until he hunts me down. He won't stop until I'm dead."

"Well then we'll fake your death. We'll put you in witness protection and post an obituary-" Paige says practically, already finding a million plans she feels more comfortable with then having Mike face Sid in this condition.

"No, Sid's too smart for that. Besides, the bureus against me. No the only way Sid believes I'm dead is if he does it himself."

"So just turn yourself in to the authorities! We'll get you an attorney. We'll prove you didn't do this." Paige tries to make Mike see reason.

"I'm not going to get a fair trial. Not right now. He's too good. He's stacked the deck. I need a chance to clear my name." Mike insists. "It's ok. I have a plan, but none of it works unless Briggs tips him off about my location. Sid needs to come find me in the hospital."

"How do you know Sid won't just tell the authorities where you are?" Paige asks, seeing a hundred different ways this plan could go wrong. This was suicidal.

"He won't. He's got too much pride. He'll come after me himself." Mike says confidently.

"And then what happens when he does! You can't do anything if you're dead Mike!" Paige yells.

"Well I can't do anything while Sid thinks I'm alive either! I have a plan, I can beat this guy Paige. Trust me."

"What if he just shoots you in the face?!" Paige asks, "What then Mike?"

"He won't." Mike answers simply.

"How do you know?"

"Because I know how I would do it." Mike's voice takes on a dark tone, and it's moments like this that remind Paige and dark and dangerous Mike can actually be under that clean cut golden boy exterior.

"Mike this plan is insane." Paige tries to talk some reason into Mike. "There's too many things that could go wrong."

"Paige, it's my best shot." Mike groans "I have no other choice. I'm not going to just let him win."

"Why would Sid trust Briggs now? He slaughtered his own team Mike. People he's worked with for years. If Briggs just conveniently comes forward with your location Sid will know it's a trap. Why would Sid believe Briggs wanted you dead? If Briggs knew why wouldn't he just go to the proper authorities? Why would he go to Sid?" Paige starts to point out the millions of holes she sees in this plan.

"Because I have this." Mike reaches into his bag slowly, his injury making the movements jerky and as he pulls out the tape.

"Is that-" Paige stares wide eyed. It couldn't be what she thinks it is.

"The missing tape from Juan's car? Yeah." Mike groans.

"And did he-" Paige can barely get the words out. So much had been happening with Solano, and the tinkerbells, that Paige had forgotten the original reason Mike came to Graceland. Had completely forgot about Jangles, and the tape.

"Paige everything we suspected was true. Briggs killed Juan and lied about it. Which means… he's probably Odin Rossey." Mike says weakly.

"Does Briggs know you have the tape?"

"No." Mike groans, his side is really starting to hurt. He needs medical attention. "He doesn't yet."

"And you were just going to hand this over to him?" Paige asks, unbelieving Mike would be that stupid to think Briggs would do the right thing after all this.

"Well the original plan was we arrest both Sid and Briggs down at Solano's and then I turn the tape over to the police while they were holding Briggs. That plan clearly went to hell." Mike says wryly, "So what choice do I have? If Briggs needs motive to have Sid kill me, this is it."

"So you're letting one monster go to catch a bigger monster." Paige says, understanding that if Mike gave up the tape, Briggs would get away with everything. She doesn't know how to process all this. Her relationship with Briggs had never quite been the same since Mike came to Graceland. Before she would have trusted him with her life. After the whole tape incident, even though he put on a good face, things never quite had been the same. She tried to forgive, but she was always second guessing things.

"Paige, the tape sounds like it's an accident." Mike defends.

"What about Odin? You don't just accidentally become a drug dealer!" The DEA agent side of Paige is furious. If Briggs was Odin that means he was everything she fought against professionally and she'd been living with him!

"Paige… Sid is dangerous. Sometimes sacrifices…" Mike tries to justify his reasoning to her. They had to get Sid. Everything else came second.

"Fuck you and your sacrifices! What wouldn't you give to catch this guy Mike? You kept Sulla open to try to get him. You lied to me. You ruined your career. You broke the law. Now you're giving up the one piece of evidence we have on Briggs? After all we went through last year trying to find the truth. You're even willing to die to get Sid! What won't you sacrifice? Where does it stop?" Paige yells at him angrily her voice getting louder and louder. Sid was destroying Mike. He was like a drug that was poisoning Mike's system, blurring his judgement, and addiction he was obsessed with. Whatever harm Sid was doing out in the world seemed to pale in comparison to the torture he was inflicting on Mike.

"I HAVE ALREADY GIVEN UP EVERYTHING!" Mike yells back, his side feels like it rips open at the exertion and he gasps in pain, forcing himself to calm down, "I need to get this guy, Paige. I have to."

He needs her to understand. He knows he's obsessed, but at this point he has lost so much, done such terrible things. If he doesn't catch Sid, what was it all for? He needs there to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Some victory to balance the scales.

"Why does it need to be Briggs?" Paige finally asks.

"Any other way would look too suspicious. Briggs has already established contact with Sid. It can't come from a stranger." Mike has is eyes closed breathing through the pain.

"What if it were me?" She asks quietly.

"No." Mike shoots this idea down without a thought. "I don't want him to know you exist. He knows Briggs. Briggs can-"

"He knows me too." Paige admits. "I met him when Briggs and I set up the bust at Silmar."

"No." Mike shoots down the idea again.

He refuses to even consider it. He knew both Paige and Briggs had been involved with the bust at Sulla's, but he had hoped that it had only been Briggs dealing with Sid. The idea of getting Paige more involved is out of the question. This is one of Mike's worse fears. That Sid will somehow find out about his relationship with Paige, and that she'll be hurt in an attempt to get to Mike. She's already been hurt one too many times because of Mike.

"It makes sense Mike. I was the one who sent him to Silmar. I can send him to you too. It buys us time with Briggs. Briggs is a wild card, if we give up the tape now who knows-" Paige is laying out the plan logically. She still doesn't approve of Mike using himself as bait, but if he's going to insist on going through with this plan, he needs to do it well. Briggs makes things even riskier. Plus Paige doesn't want to give up the tape over Briggs.

"NO! I will not risk losing you!" Mike yells, and suddenly Paige realizes she's found the one thing Mike won't sacrifice. Her safety.

"Well I won't risk losing you! So let me get you to the hospital and then we'll regroup from there. We'll find another way-" Paige finds herself yelling back at him.

"This is the only way. Tell Briggs." Mike insists. Placing the tape in her palm, he closes her hand around it. This is his last hope.

"I won't do it, Mike. It's too dangerous." Paige says stubbornly.

"I know a lot has happened between us. I know I've lost you, lost your trust, but please Paige trust me this one last time." Mike begs.

Paige sits quietly staring down at the tape.

"Look, you once told me you were on my side. I need you on my side Paige. Look all I need you to do is to get Briggs to go give me up to Sid. Just tell Briggs, Paige. Make sure that Briggs tells Sid that I'm under the name Mike Richards."

"What if he kills you?" Paige's voice trembles, and she doesn't want to cry in front of him again. "Mike, it's too dangerous."

"Look, it will all work out. You just have to trust me. I'll find you afterwards, ok? I'll contact you once I have a better plan, but this will buy us time. Paige it's the only way." Mike tries to comfort her.

"I have a contact in Croatia. They're a non extradition country. I'll get you cash, I'll find a way for you to travel there, you can just disappear." Paige tries desperately to get Mike to change his mind.

"And never come back? Disappear a disgrace? With that filth still walking free? No. I'd rather-" Mike's hand tightens in anger at the thought of it, but Paige finishes his sentence.

"-Rather die." She says sadly, and the words have a harsh biting ring of truth to them.

"I promise things will be ok. Paige, I give you my-" He can't finish the sentence because he's broken his promises to her before. "Ok, look, I can't make any promises, but I know this is my best shot..."

"I won't do it Mike." She says stubbornly, "We'll find another way."

"Look, I can't make you. But I'm going to that hospital, and I'm going to go ahead and prepare on my end for Sid to show. All you have to do is tell Briggs, Paige. If you can't... Please. Promise me you'll consider it? Paige if this doesn't work, I'm out of options." Mike begs her, his voice calm and soothing. He needs her to believe it will all be ok. He needs to believe it. "Just take the tape. Think about it. "

"I won't do it, Mike. Just take the passports and run. Make a new life for yourself and don't fuck it up like you did this one."

Paige stands up on shaky legs and walks back towards the door tape in hand. She pauses at the door, straightening herself up, steeling herself against the outside world.

Not letting herself look back at the man behind her, she simply says, "Goodbye Mike."

Then the door closes and she's gone.

"Bye Paige." Mike whispers quietly.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: This chapter's kind of fluffier than I like to do. It also has a tongue in cheek nod to the fact every story I read right now has Paige pregnant (one of my own included, and many of them are great stories by talented authors don't get me wrong.) I appreciate reviews, but fyi the answer to the "Update?" question is pretty much always "When I get around to it. Generally once a week."

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><p>PRESENT DAY<p>

"Hey, you awake?" Mike whispers softly to the sleeping girl curled up beside him. Her breathing doesn't change, and he knows she's not. He lays a soft kiss on her bare shoulder. "Good. Rest. You deserve it."

He lays there watching her sleep, taking in every detail of the way the moonlight highlights the curves of her face. He still can't believe that she's here. He can't believe she wants him, after all he's done that's hurt her. His eyes drift to the scar on her hand that rests beside her sleeping face. That was his fault. He'd forced her to push that drug dealer for more money, even after she'd warned him it was too fast.

There were other injuries as well. The fresh wound on her forehead from where Pedro had beaten her for dancing with Mike. The faint remains of a bruise on her knee from where Sulla had beaten her when Mike couldn't find her in time. All the emotional scars Mike couldn't see, but he knew ran just as deep. Mike takes a deep shaky breath, trying to focus on the good instead. She is here with him. For right now she's safe.

"You are so beautiful." Mike whispers softly to the sleeping girl beside him. "I forgot just how beautiful. You know, the first night we spent together, I was so excited I couldn't sleep. I just stayed awake for hours staring at you. I had to fake sleep when you woke up... I never told you that."

It doesn't matter that Paige is asleep and Mike is essentially talking to himself. At least she's present even if she can't hear him, because Mike has been talking aloud to Paige every night the past few months without her here. He's convinced another month of this self imposed solitary confinement and he'd have drawn her face on a Volleyball, Castaway style.

"There's so much I need to tell you. So much I wish you knew." Mike brushes her hair back from her cheek. "Well lets see. I have no plan. No money. I can't stay in one place for too long because I don't want to attract attention. I can't talk to anyone. I use the local YMCA for showers and food, but I don't go too often, because I don't want anyone to recognize me. I was starting to think Sid succeeded, and he actually did kill me that day, because I've been a ghost, Paige. I feel like I'm no closer to catching him than I was before."

It feels good to confess to her like this. It's definitely easier without those inquisitive eyes staring at him making him tongue tied and stupid. Once Mike starts talking, he finds it difficult to stop.

"I know I shouldn't go near the house, but I just keep finding myself drawn to it. You'd call me an idiot if you knew how reckless I got. I just can't stay away. I need to make sure you're safe. When Sid said it was you who gave me up and not Briggs, I swear to God my heart almost stopped on it's own. I never wanted him to know about you. I keep worrying that if he knew I was still alive, if he even suspected it, he'd try to hurt you to get to me." Mike admits his greatest fear to her.

"I'm surprised he hasn't tried to get to you already. He knows about the house, Paige. I don't know how, but he knows." Mike whispers, half wishing she would wake up, half glad she's still asleep. "I'm going to get him Paige. I don't know how, but I'm going to make sure he rots in jail to the end of his days. I'm going to come back. I'll clear my name, and I'll make it up to you. I promise you."

That future seems so far away Mike can barely picture it anymore. Even if he clears his name, the damage to his reputation out here, the scandal, will always haunt him. He'll probably have to move back to DC where the stigma isn't so bad. After what he's been through a steady desk job doesn't sound so bad anymore. He wonders if she would move with him if he asked.

"I just don't know what my next step is. I thought once I faked my death, got Sid off my back, that it would come to me. All I needed was a little more time to figure things out. But it's been two months, and I have no resources, most of my energy goes into just staying alive and unnoticed. I need something solid before I make my move." Mike is getting more and more agitated as he talks. "Right now Sid's laying low and I don't know how much longer I can survive like this. I can't get back on his radar though until I'm ready to take him down. I'm just running out of angles."

She stirs next to him, the agitation in his voice must be disturbing her slumber, and she snuggles back against his body for warmth. He wraps his arms around her comfortingly, savoring the moment. He breaths deeply, trying to make his breathing match her steady rhythm to calm himself.

"God, I've missed you…" Mike whispers against her neck.

When Paige finally does awaken, Mike is still awake, propped up on his side, watching her sleep. Her eyes flutter open and he is breathless from the sight of her coming back to life. He leans down and tenderly kisses her lips. To his relief, she brings a hand up to the back of his neck and pulls him in to kiss him back.

He finally pulls away, but stares down at her sleepy face with unmasked adoration. "Good morning."

"Hey blue eyes." She smiles back, catching his dangling pendant between her fingers she examines it casually. "Saint Michaels."

She wraps her fingers around the chain and uses it to bring him back down for another quick kiss.

"Did you sleep at all?" She murmurs still sounding tired. He wishes he had coffee or something to offer her.

"Nah, other things seemed more important..." He says softly, brushing her hair back from her face and staring down at her.

"You know it's really creepy when you watch me sleep…" She smiles knowingly.

"Creepy or adorable?" Mike responds playfully to her teasing.

"Creepy. Definitely creepy." Paige laughs at him. "Watching people sleep is creepy. Besides I'm pretty sure I drool, it can't be attractive to watch."

"I could look at other things..." Mike lifts the blanket to playfully ogle her naked body.

"You're such a creeper!" She laughs, pushing him away playfully, and lowering the blanket. The two laugh as he pulls her on top of him, her head resting on his chest. As her laughter fades she traces small circles on his bare chest and whispers, "You need to come back to Graceland…"

"I'm working on it." He kisses the top of her head. "How's the house?"

"It's strange. With both you and Briggs gone it feels kind of empty. Of course once the baby comes it's going to seem crowded. I don't know how we'll work that..."

"Baby? Are you… are you pregnant?" Mike stares up at her in shock. His heart pounds in his chest as he looks at her with wide eyes.

"No!" She smacks him upside the head, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, ok. Good." Mike's heart is still pounding as he rubs his sore head. She raises an eyebrow in his direction, and he quickly clarifies his reaction nervously. "No, I didn't mean good. I just meant y'know... good. Paige you know what I mean."

"Charlie's pregnant. Remember her?" Paige asks sarcastically.

"Oh my God, I completely forgot. How's she doing with that?" Mike groans at his mistake. He must be tired if he forgot Charlie was pregnant. Time just seemed to stop since he's left Graceland. He cannot believe he's been away from the house for so long. Big things were happening and he was missing them as he was holed up here.

"She's good. She's getting very pregnant, and I think with Briggs gone it get's lonely." Paige snuggles against Mike's chest and stares off into space. "I know how that feels."

"What do you mean?" Mike asks, once again his eyes dropping down towards his stomach. He's worried he was disappointed to find out she wasn't pregnant, which was crazy because of all the things Mike has to deal with right now, fatherhood was not something he should be adding to the list. "You're not…"

"I'm not pregnant!" Paige smacks Mike's chest again, "But I'm going on a diet as soon as I get home." Paige mumbles.

"Stop it. I'm sorry… You look great." Mike assures her, pulling her back down to his chest as he runs his fingers through his hair.

The two lay together in silence for a few minutes both lost in their own thoughts, neither wanting to spoil the moment together.

"You should probably get going." Mike finally whispers regretfully. He doesn't want her to leave. He wants to stay like this with her, but this is stolen time they've had together.

"I don't want to." She says, tracing her finger over his chest. "I want to stay here with you."

"Paige, you can't be gone for too long."

"What if we just run away? Pick up and leave. Get new lives." She asks him, burying her face in his bare chest, not wanting to leave to face the day. "I can become a spin instructor. You can fly planes."

"We can't. You know we can't." Mike sighs as he rubs her back gently. "But just the thought that you would want that… That you would want that with _me_."

"Why? Don't you want those things with me?" Paige asks looking up at him shyly and Mike is once again surprised how she has not realized she's completely out of his league yet.

"I want everything with you." Mike leans down to kiss her again. He pulls away with a groan and finally says, "C'mon, get dressed. There's a bus station at the corner. There's a line that should take you near the house."

"First, I have to go check in with the DEA about last night." Paige says, standing up and searching for her clothes, "Don't worry. I'll leave you out of my version."

"Tell them you went out to the alley with Pedro, and a guy came up to mug you. You didn't get a clear look before he hit your head against the wall. You don't know what happened after that." Mike says, putting on his own pants as he plans.

"What did happen after that?" Paige asks, knowing there's something Mike's not telling her.

Mike hesitates for a moment, and finally admits in a dark voice, "Pedro was killed in a mugging gone bad."

Paige suspected this was the case, but she hadn't allowed herself to think about it. She stands there silently and tries to figure out how she feels about this news.

After a long moment of silence, Mike adds almost sheepishly, "I'm sorry if I screwed up your case."

"You killed him." Paige realizes it's not really a question.

"He hurt you." Mike says, knowing this shouldn't be a justification, but in his mind it was. He watches her trying to process this, and tries to explain. "You once asked me how I felt. That day. At Sulla's. When they hit you… and I lied. I said I made a choice, but I didn't really. My only thought was I needed to keep you safe. When he hit you, God Paige. The only thing that allowed me to keep from killing them right then, was the knowledge that I would put you in more danger."

She still doesn't say anything and Mike fears he's losing her again. Mike doesn't want to bring up the past. He doesn't know when he'll see her again and he doesn't want to leave her with this, but he can't bear the thought of her hating him again. So he keeps trying to explain, his voice getting more and more desperate.

"I know I did the right thing that day, but it killed me. I almost didn't. Paige, if I had been armed, I would have slaughtered all of them. Anyone who ever touched you. Who ever hurt you." Mike's voice breaks.

He feels the same desperate urge creeping up his spine, because she's turned away and he can't see her face. He can't read her.

"I lost sight of you in the club for just a few minutes, and when I looked again you were gone and your purse was still there and I knew. When I got out to that alley, I thought I was too late. You were lying there on the ground and there was so much blood... and I killed him." Mike walks to her, but is still afraid to touch her.

"Do you need money?" Paige asks, and Mike looks down at his feet.

"No. Not right now. I've got enough from Pedro to last me for a little while." Mike is embarrassed that she would even feel the need to offer, though in truth until last night he hadn't had cash in a while.

"Ok."

"Are we… Are we ok?"

"Nothing about this is ok, Mike." Paige says sadly and Mike's heart sinks. "Do what you need to do to get Sid, but don't… don't lose yourself in the process. Come back to me."

Mike nods stiffly at her words. It could have been worse. She grabs her purse and starts to walk towards the door, but he rushes forward to stop her.

"Wait!" Mike pulls her back into his arms to kiss her desperately one last time.

He doesn't want them to part like this. Not with her thinking he's a killer again. Reaching to his neck he ducks out of the chain and puts it over her head instead.

"Mike, no. I can't." Paige whispers, her fingers coming to the chain. She didn't think she'd ever seen him without it with exception of the few nights she'd made him leave it on her nightstand so it wouldn't hit her in the face as he rocked above her.

"Keep it hidden." Mike instructs, as he tucks the chain into her shirt so it falls hidden between her breasts.

"Mike…" Paige looks down at the chain and shakes her head. She's not religious or superstitious, but she knows this charm means something for Mike. "I can't. It's supposed to be protection. You'll need this..."

"Just know, no matter what happens, this is where I chose to be." Mike says touching her heart. "I'm yours Paige."

Paige stares up at him with those big green eyes and Mike can't help but kiss her again.

"How do I find you again?" She pleads.

"You can't. Paige, if Sid finds out. If he even suspects... I've put you in too much danger already." Mike insists. He wants to be selfish and set up a meet, God knows his job would be easier having a contact in the DEA and the resources she could bring, but he refuses to put her in danger.

"Figure this out soon and come back to me." She says, understanding.

"I promise." Mike says with more confidence than he feels. "Be careful out there."

"You too."

And then she's gone and Mike's alone again.


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Notes: Thanks for your patience. I'm working as fast as I can to get out these next couple chapters!

Answers to questions- In my version, Mike had to come up with the money for the buy rather than the FBI because it was too short of notice for them to go through all the necessary paperwork to approve that kind of buy, especially since it was DEA/FBImixed jurisdiction, and also because FBI would not have allowed Mike/Jakes to go alone, they would have just insisted on busting in on the place and putting someone else in charge of Paige's extraction/would have asked too many questions about how Mike and Briggs got the information. They didn't have a team, they just planned this as an off the record mission. As for the why Briggs was blamed for Mike's death, I'm planning on addressing that a little more a little later.

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><p>Sid stood in the hospital morgue examining the body of a very dead Pedro Perez. Something about all this wasn't adding up. There was a link he was missing somewhere. He had sent Franks out to gather more information on Paige Arkin, but for right now all he had to go on was this body and the idiot coroner who would not stop babbling at Sid. It was almost like the guy had never seen a murder victim before or spoken to a cop.<p>

"We think the mugger panicked and shot him. He couldn't have been that good of a shot. We've found evidence of at least ten shots and he only hit the victim twice. The other bullets were found in the brick wall around him."

"Yeah, I read the report." Sid says to the coroner as he looks at his body. "Hate to disagree with you, but this shooter knew how to handle a gun."

"No. The wounds were to the head and the stomach. That's a large difference in aim. Not to mention all the times he missed. This man was obviously a large target to miss. Perhaps his hands were shaking from withdrawal." The coroner continues to back up his theory. "It's not uncommon for junkies-"

"Listen Doc. With all do respect, you deal with the dead and leave the investigative work to me." Sid says, annoyed with being lectured on junkies behavior from a man who wasn't a good enough doctor to be trusted with living patients.

As the coroner huffs with indignation, Sid ignores him and turns back to the body, feeling a strange level of respect for his shooter.

"Nah, this wasn't incompetence. It was something else. The first shot was out of passion. To the stomach." Sid says, admiring the clean shot directly through the organ of the corpse. "When you shoot someone in the stomach, all that acid spills out into the rest of the body. Unless you get shot in a surgery room, you're a dead man. Death comes in maybe fifteen minutes, and he'll be in agony the entire time. It's one of the most painful ways to die. Our guy wanted the victim to suffer."

"If that was the case why the other shots?"

"For some reason, he thought about it, and he didn't want to wait the fifteen minutes and delivered a shot to the head. Maybe our boy Pedro was making too much noise, and the shooter didn't want to be discovered. Maybe he found something more important and just didn't have fifteen minutes to wait." Sid says, intrigued by this case. He has a feeling in his gut, that something doesn't add up. He's just not sure what yet.

"And the shots to the wall?" The coroner asks rudely, clearly put out that Sid did not agree with his assessment.

"I would guess he was either emptying out the canister to make sure it looked like he panicked, or to make sure no one else found a loaded gun." Sid shrugs, not too concerned with this fact. "If you run the gun through forensics, I'm sure you'll find it completely wiped clean of fingerprints."

"His wallet was missing. You really don't think this was a mugging?" The coroner asks, clearly just thinking Sid was crazy by this point.

"I'm not so sure..." Sid looks at the clean shots to the center of the head and stomach again. Too neat for your random mugger. Too neat for just about anyone other than an expert shot. Something is definitely not adding up about this case. Nothing about Graceland agents is ever as it seems. Turning to the police officer who had initially took the report he asks, "What was blondie doing during all this shooting? There's no bullet holes in her right?"

"If so, she didn't die from them. I don't deal with the living." The coroner says rudely, clearly thinking that assholes like this cop were why he prefered the dead.

"No bullet holes. She has a nasty crack to the head though." Franks answers Sid's question as he walks in the room with the file with Paige's statement. "DEA just sent her over to the hospital to get it checked out."

"Just now?" Sid asks, surprised.

"Well it took a while to process her paperwork and get her admitted." Franks tries to explain.

"I knew the DEA was slow but according to the report this guy was shot around midnight. It's almost seven thirty. You're telling me one of their agents gets injured and it takes twenty hours to get her medical care? I'm telling you, one of my guys get injured? They have a doc down his throat sometimes before the cuffs go on." Sid scoffs in disbelief. "Workers comp is a bitch man. Bureaus always trying to cover it's ass. What's her report say?"

"Says she was outside in an alley with the now deceased. She heard a gun cock and was told to stay still they were being robbed. She tried to turn around and before she got a look at him her head was bashed into a wall. She didn't get a look at the guy." Franks reads from the report.

"When was the report filed?" Sid asks.

"At three o'clock this afternoon." Franks answers, slowly catching on to what Sid was saying.

"Ok, what was she doing for those missing fifteen hours?" Sid asks.

"She doesn't know. Her report says she was in shock with a head injury. She says the first thing she really remembers is waking up on the beach. Before then she has some hazy memories, but nothing concrete. She could have been wandering around town for hours for all we know." Franks replies as the coroner just stands there looking befuddled, wishing these two would go discuss elsewhere.

"Unless it's halloween, we would have received reports of a hot bloodsoaked blonde with a headwound wandering the streets." Sid says bluntly.

"It's not uncommon for people with concussions to have lapses in memory or confusion." The coroner added like he was reading out of the textbook.

There's a moment of dead silence in the morgue as both Sid and Franks stare at the coroner in a belittling fashion.

"Do you guys actually go to med school past the first year?" Sid asks in disbelief of this guys incompetency. This settles it, when he dies he wants cremated because he wouldn't even trust this idiot with his corpse. Sid rolls his eyes, eager to get away from the idiot coroner who thought he was Sherlock Holmes. "We're done here. Better get to formaldehyding this guy before he stinks up the place, Doc."

"So what are you thinking boss?" Franks, who has learned to be silent mostly in Sid's presence, asks as they walk down the sterile halls of the morgue to the hospital up above.

"I think there's more to this than what's in her report." Sid mumbles. "I want to talk to blondie."

"Shouldn't be a problem. She's being treated upstairs." Franks says.

"Ok, why don't you go grab me a cup of coffee while I do the interrogation. I don't want her to see us together. I may need you later." Sid says. As Franks scurries away, Sid yells after him, "Franks, make sure you get me the good stuff. Not that crap they serve in the cafeteria."

Sid walks up to the fourth floor. He has to sweet talk a nurse, but she quickly releases the information on Paige Arkin to him after seeing his police badge and charming self depreciation. It takes a few minutes of charming the nurse before Sid knows it's time to push further. Laying the icing on the cake, he begs the nurse, "Actually, she's an old friend and I'm quite worried about her. Do you think I could see her to make sure she's alright? I just want to ask her a few questions. Make sure she's ok."

"I'm sorry you can't right now." The nurse says, knowing she's said too much already, but she can't seem to help opening up to the handsome cop.

"To tell you the truth I… Can you keep a secret? I'm in love with her. Always have been, but I never had the nerve to tell her. Do you think you could make an exception this one time please?" Sid has this nurse pegged as a romantic, and the way she seems to melt from hearing a man confess his pathetic love proves he's right on target.

"You can't right now. Ms Arkin is getting an MRI, but I can let you wait outside for when she gets out." The nurse finally concedes.

"Thanks. You're a peach." Sid says as she shows him into the room leading to the MRI room.

Through the glass pane, Sid can see long tan legs sticking out of the giant machine that he assumes belongs to the blonde agent. Sid takes a moment to appreciate the view of her legs, knowing that when she came out of the machine she would not be pleased to see him. He appreciated the edge interviewing her in a hospital gown would give him. He wanted to catch her as off guard and exposed as possible.

Sid stands patiently waiting in the room looking around as he waits on the machine. He walks over to the table that has Paige's clothing piled on it with her position, he examines each piece, seeing blood stains and dirt to back up her story. He comes to a small platic bag full of her jewelry that she's not allowed to wear in the MRI. He stares at the clunky bracelets and rings, wondering why women went to such over decoration, when he sees something that makes him stop in his tracks.

"Oh Mikey… So sentimental." Sid grins sadistically as he sees the St Michael's medallion in the plastic bag of Paige's jewelry. "You almost had me… but now I've got you."

Sid leaves the room before Paige comes out of the MRI. He's found the link he's looking for.


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Note: Yes. It's been a while. Please insert your favorite excuse her _. It will probably be better than mine.

Never the less here's a new chapter.

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><p>Paige pads sleepily down the stairs at three in the morning. A nightmare woke her up, and she isn't quite ready to go back to sleep. Her hair is mussed, and she's wearing her sweats and Mike's old T-shirt. She's not expecting anyone up at this hour, not even Mike would wake up this early, so she's surprised to find the kitchen already occupied by Charlie.<p>

"Hey you." Charlie smiles up at her as Paige enters the kitchen and perches herself on a stool across from her.

"Hey. You're up late." Paige says with a yawn.

"You're up early." Charlie retorts.

"Couldn't sleep. You?" Paige mumbles, taking a sip of the glass of water Charlie hands her.

"Baby was hungry. It's not even born yet and I can't deny it anything. This is gonna be the most spoiled kid in the history of the planet."

"Ahhh…" Paige nods in understanding, "And what is the craving dejure tonight?"

"Popcorn with M&M's and hotsauce." Charlie admits as she finishes tossing the bowl in front of her to spread the ingredients. "Want some?"

"Sounds disgusting… Sure, I'll give it a try." Paige reaches out and grabs a fistful, popping the odd concoction in her mouth piece by piece. She nods to Charlie's bump, "Not bad, Peanut."

Charlie smiles to herself with her hand over her stomach as she too pops some food in her mouth. "You know you look kind of like a pirate with that bandage get up."

"I know. It looks ridiculous, but trust me, it looks better than what's underneath." Paige laughs as she touches the bandaging that covers most of her upper forehead and a small gash with stitches she has across her brow. "It's already starting to turn all sorts of lovely colors."

"Well I'm glad it's not worse. We were pretty worried when you didn't come home the other night."

"Hey, save your lecture for your offspring. You're not my mother." Paige teases, reaching out for another handful of popcorn.

"Yeah, I know. I just can't stop worrying these days. I think Mikey's death shook us all-" Charlie quickly stops talking when she realizes this is the first time she's mentioned Mike in front of Paige, "I'm sorry. Obviously it's not the same as for you."

"What do you mean?" Paige asks defensively, and Charlie smiles softly, relieved that Paige hasn't stormed out of the room yet, the way she would for the past few weeks whenever Mike was mentioned.

"I know you two were close." Charlie says tactfully.

"You met him first. You were-"

"Paige, cut the crap. You know what I mean. We all cared for Mikey, but what you two had was special."

"Yeah… Well..." Paige looks down at the counter, suddenly feeling incredibly guilty.

"Hey, look. I don't know what was going on with the two of you at the end there, but you shouldn't doubt that the kid was crazy about you. Anyone could see that. From the moment he met you. I was there. I have never seen anyone fall so hard. He never got over that." Charlie says with a sad smile.

Charlie is trying to be comforting, but it just makes Paige feel even worse. Charlie's talking about Mike like he's dead, and Paige knows he's so alive. She'd spent the whole previous night proving that to herself.

She closes her eyes tight as the memories come rushing back. His scent in the club. The sight of him sleeping in the chair. The feeling of his pulse under her lips as she kissed his neck. All of it had made her light headed with a happiness she didn't know she could feel. Now, even with him gone, she knows he's back in her life, but Charlie is still grieving his loss. Suddenly the secret necklace hanging around her neck seems to weigh more with each passing second. She wants to tell Charlie everything, but she knows it's not her secret to tell. She needs to change the subject.

"Enough about me. How are you doing? You know, with Briggs gone?" Paige blurts out.

She is trying to sound compassionate, but Paige winces as she realizes she's brought up the one thing she feels guiltier for than Mike. Because it is Paige's fault that Briggs was in prison. Maybe not totally, but she definitely knew what she was doing when she told Briggs about Sid and Mike.

She almost hadn't. She had almost kept it to herself. She'd almost allowed Briggs to stay out of the setup, but then Briggs had given that damn bullshit speech about them needing to look after each other, when she knew he had killed Juan and been posing as Odin Rossey all this time. It was too much hypocrisy. So Paige had sent him down to witness Mike's death as part of the set up.

At the time she hadn't known how well her plan would work. She thought he'd just be held for questioning to keep up the cover. Briggs had been in the room when the nurses had rushed in to try to revive him. They'd arrested him immediately and taken him in for questioning. Of course what no one saw coming was Amber.

At the same time Briggs was being questioned, Amber was also being questioned a room over in the station. She'd been stitched up from where Paul had shot her rescuing Charlie, and arrested the second she'd been cleared from the hospital. She'd said Paul and Charlie had set her up, which obviously they had, but she then let information slip about how Paul had tried to get her to kill Mike. That testimony along with Mike's death certificate and Paul's recent suspicions, were all the prosecutor felt he needed to convict Briggs.

Paige thought of the tape that was hidden up in her room. The last nail in Briggs's coffin. She didn't know why she hadn't turned it into the police yet. She wasn't sure what was holding her back. Maybe it was Charlie. Maybe it was the guilt she felt over Mike's death. Maybe she just didn't want to be responsible for Peanut growing up without a father. Maybe she still cared for the man who had been her mentor.

Charlie has been talking, but Paige has been so caught up in her own guilt she hasn't heard a word. She does hear when Charlie's voice breaks with emotion as she holds back a choked sob. Paige doesn't know what to say to comfort her, so she does the only thing she can think of and brings the woman in for a comforting hug.

"What's this?" Charlie asks as she pulls away, pressing her fingers to the mark on Paige's shoulder.

Paige's hand comes up to her shoulder instinctively. She'd forgotten about the love bite Mike had left on her when they were dancing. She quickly tries to remember any other signs Charlie might observe. How the skin on her chin was raw and pink from hours of his stubble rubbing against her as they kissed. Her lips still felt bruised and swollen, was that noticeable? If her T-shirt rides up, Charlie may notice bruises on her hips from where his fingertips dug into her skin as he tried to hold back his climax. She suddenly feels like her body is covered in signs of Mike's possession. Her fingers slide over to the chain which is still hidden under the folds of the T-shirt. If Charlie saw it, she'd know immediately.

"Paige!" Charlie shakes her a little, giving her a concerned look. "You zoned out for a minute there. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah. Yeah, everything's fine. I guess I'm more tired than I thought. I'm going to head back to bed. Thanks for the snack, Peanut." Paige addresses Charlie's stomach. "I'll see you in the morning. Try to get some rest, Charlie. For both of you."

"You sure everything's ok? I'm here if you ever need to talk. About anything." Charlie says, still not convinced everything is fine. "I mean it, Paige. You don't have to deal with this alone. We're a family. We've gotta look out for each other. It's ok to miss him, Paige. We all do. Sometimes I forget and in the morning I expect him to burst through the door fresh from his run and start lecturing me on the virtues of being a morning person."

"He is not a morning person. That's just what he wants people to believe. It's just by the time he gets back from his jog he's been awake for an hour. Trust me, before that run, he is a zombie with morning breath and the bed head…" Paige catches herself as she babbles on about Mike in the morning, affectionately complaining. Charlie gives her an understanding smile.

"I know what you mean. Briggs snores so loudly that it's like sleeping next to a monster truck rally, and yet now that he's gone it's too quiet and I can't sleep." Charlie confides. "It's strange how the things that drove you crazy are the things you miss most."

"Briggs hasn't had his trial yet. He can still come home." Paige says, feeling even more guilty about the damning tape of Briggs she has up in her room.

"Yeah, I know. The thing is, I don't even know if I want him here. Maybe I just want the idea of him. He keeps so many secrets from me. How can I be with him after everything he's done?" Charlie asks, crossing her arms across her chest in a self administered hug.

"You don't really believe he killed Mike do you?" Paige asks, wanting to at least keep Charlie from that worry, even if she couldn't ease her mind about anything else.

"I don't know. Paige, what Amber said was true. He tried to have him killed." Charlie says, knowing the whole time about Briggs messing with the heist for Amber. "How can I love a man like that?"

"You don't choose who you love." Paige says softly, looking down at her feet. She was the last person who should be giving love advice. After all Mike had done at Sylmar… and yet she still somehow forgave him, and that terrified her. Because she shouldn't forgive him. Not after all that had happened, but somehow she did. She worries she would forgive him anything. "Sometimes the people you love do horrible things, and you just need to find a way to move on."

"Is this what you're doing? Moving on?" Charlie asks.

"What do you mean?" Paige asks, looking at her nervously.

"That's Mike's shirt." Charlie brings her fingers to pull on the shirt Paige is wearing, and Paige's hand instinctively comes up to keep the collar in place.

"I miss him." Paige shrugs, saying the only truthful thing she can. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. You just take care of yourself and that little Peanut in there. Everything is going to be fine."

"You really believe that?" Charlie asks. Paige had been moping around this house every since she'd been taken by Sulla.

"Yes. Absolutely." Paige says, putting on a brave smile, and for just a second Charlie can see a flash of the optimistic ray of sunshine that Paige used to be. "Now I'm going to bed before I eat anymore of this crap and end up with a stomach as big as yours."

"Doubtful unless you've got a secret boyfriend somewhere!" Charlie laughs as Paige grabs a handful of popcorn and shoves it in her mouth as she turns and flees up the stairs.


End file.
